United States President Donald Trump has said that India should not be "dumping" rice into the US market and he will "take care" of it, while stressing that tariffs will solve the "problem" easily.
Trump held a roundtable in the White House on Monday with representatives of the farming and agriculture sector as well as key members of his cabinet, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
He announced USD 12 billion in federal aid for farmers.
Meryl Kennedy, who runs her family's agribusiness Kennedy Rice Mill in Louisiana, told Trump that rice producers in the southern part of the country are "really struggling' and that other nations are "dumping" rice into the US.
When asked by Trump which countries are dumping rice into America, Kennedy, sitting next to the President, replied, "India, and Thailand; even China into Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico used to be one of the largest markets for US rice. We haven't shipped rice into Puerto Rico in years."
Kennedy said that this has been happening for years and did not start during the Trump administration. "But unfortunately, we're seeing it in a much bigger way now," she said.
She said that tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are working, "but we need to double down", to which Trump said, "You want more, I understand".
Trump then turned to Bessent and said, "India, tell me about India. Why is India allowed to do that? They have to pay tariffs. Do they have an exemption on rice?"
"No sir, we're still working on their trade deal," Bessent replied.
Trump then said, "But they shouldn't be dumping. I mean, I heard that. I heard that from others. They can't do that."
Kennedy then told Trump there's a World Trade Organisation case against India.
Trump asked Kennedy to give him the names of the countries dumping rice into the US and instructed Bessent to note down the names. "India. Who else?" Trump said.
"India, Thailand, China into Puerto Rico, not into the continental US, but into Puerto Rico. Those are the main culprits," Kennedy said, adding that American farmers can feed the US as well as nations around the world, but "we need fair trade, not free trade".
Trump said this will be "so easy to settle".
"It's solved so quickly with tariffs to these countries that are illegally shipping. It's solved. Your problem is solved in one day. That's why we have to win the Supreme Court case," he said, adding that this problem will be solved in "one day".
Lower courts in the US have ruled that Trump's use of emergency powers to impose tariffs on nations around the world is illegal, and the case will now be decided by the Supreme Court.
"It's so unfair. They go out of business. They put everyone out of business," Trump said. -- PTI
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