Barackface: Agriculture

Monday, June 30, 2025

The Hypocrisy of U.S. Agricultural Trade Demands: A Case Study in Bad Faith

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The Hypocrisy of U.S. Agricultural Trade Demands: A Case Study in Bad Faith

When it comes to global trade negotiations, few sectors reveal the double standards of advanced economies like agriculture. The United States, often the loudest advocate for free markets, continues to shield its own agriculture sector through a complex web of subsidies, protections, and market interventions. Yet, in trade talks with developing nations like India, the U.S. insists on sweeping market access for its agricultural exports. This contradiction isn't just ironic — it's unjust, and arguably, a move in bad faith.

U.S. Agriculture: A Subsidized Fortress

The American agriculture sector is one of the most heavily subsidized industries in the country. Despite employing less than 2% of the U.S. workforce, it receives tens of billions of dollars in subsidies each year — from crop insurance and disaster relief to direct payments and price supports. These programs prop up U.S. farmers and agri-corporations, insulating them from market forces, natural shocks, and international competition.

Without these government supports, many U.S. farms — particularly the massive monoculture operations producing corn, soybeans, and wheat — would struggle to survive. In fact, some experts argue that removing these subsidies would shrink the U.S. agricultural sector dramatically, possibly even gutting its global competitiveness.

India: A Different Agricultural Reality

In contrast, agriculture in India employs nearly half of the country’s workforce and remains the backbone of its rural economy. The Indian government, too, offers supports — including minimum support prices (MSPs) and food security programs — but these are not comparable in scale or function to the U.S. subsidy system. Indian supports are primarily aimed at alleviating rural poverty, ensuring food security, and preventing mass displacement.

When the U.S. demands that India lower its tariffs or remove protections for its farmers in the name of "free trade," it is asking a country with a fragile, employment-intensive ag sector to open the floodgates to highly subsidized, industrial-scale imports. This isn’t competition on equal terms. It’s the bulldozing of vulnerable livelihoods by a well-armed global giant.

The Bad Faith of Trade Negotiations

In trade deals, fairness demands a level playing field. But what the U.S. is doing is akin to asking India to disarm while remaining heavily armored itself. For a nation that couldn’t maintain its agricultural sector without massive state support, demanding market access in a country where agriculture is tied to the very survival of hundreds of millions is deeply disingenuous.

Worse, such demands fly in the face of stated U.S. commitments to sustainable development, inclusive growth, and poverty reduction. They reek of neo-colonial attitudes — where the goal is not mutual prosperity, but market domination.

The Way Forward

True trade cooperation requires mutual respect and an honest appraisal of structural differences. If the U.S. wants India to liberalize its agriculture market, it must be prepared to address its own subsidies first. Reciprocity, not pressure, should be the basis of negotiation.

Until then, India is right to be cautious. Protecting its farmers isn’t protectionism — it’s survival. And in this case, resistance to U.S. demands isn’t economic nationalism. It’s self-defense.

Conclusion

The U.S. needs to stop talking out of both sides of its mouth. You cannot prop up your own sector with taxpayer dollars and then cry foul when others do the same. If trade is to be truly free, it must first be fair. And fairness begins with honesty — something sorely lacking in the current approach to U.S.-India agricultural trade.

Rethinking Trade: A Blueprint for a Just and Thriving Global Economy https://t.co/8aGH1VhAMj
The $500 Billion Pivot: How the India-US Alliance Can Reshape Global Trade https://t.co/twyC7Gb5Mt
Trump’s Trade War https://t.co/jujJ9mdzvC
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 30, 2025

The Hypocrisy of U.S. Agricultural Trade Demands: A Case Study in Bad Faith https://t.co/8vBBwR33Qk @ShahBalen @ZohranKMamdani @MiraPagliNair
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 30, 2025

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1/
🚨 The U.S. wants India to open its agricultural markets.
But guess what? U.S. agriculture wouldn’t even exist without MASSIVE government subsidies.
This isn’t trade. It’s economic hypocrisy. 🧵#USIndiaTrade #AgSubsidies #FoodJustice @IshitaYadav @Fashionopolis
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 30, 2025

Rethinking Trade: A Blueprint for a Just and Thriving Global Economy https://t.co/8aGH1Vh2WL
The $500 Billion Pivot: How the India-US Alliance Can Reshape Global Trade https://t.co/twyC7GaxWV
Trump’s Trade War https://t.co/jujJ9md1G4
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 30, 2025

7/
Want fair trade?
Step 1: U.S. ends farm subsidies.
Step 2: Real level playing field.
Step 3: Then we talk.
Until then, India should protect its farmers. FULL STOP.#FairTradeNow #USIndia #TradeJustice @DurgeshG7 @jogalshailaja @AudiPhotography
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 30, 2025

9/
📢 The Global South has been burned before.
✊ Time to say NO to trade hypocrisy.
🌾 Time to defend farmers, food, and the future.
Retweet if you agree.#GlobalTrade #EconomicJustice #StopTheDumping @manukumarjain @dhaval241086 @Omkar_Raii
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 30, 2025

The Hypocrisy of U.S. Agricultural Trade Demands: A Case Study in Bad Faith https://t.co/8vBBwR33Qk Anupam, please retweet.
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 30, 2025

Thank you mere pyare dost @AnilKapoor for your love and truthfulness appreciation. You are a great support system. Most of the time as a friend! And sometimes as a guide too! 😍🙏❤️ #TanviTheGreat https://t.co/L0HlVQt1Ln
— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPKher) June 30, 2025

Why Indian-origin #ZohranMamdani cannot become president of the United States of America https://t.co/sJ2UeKSNXO
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) June 30, 2025

New York ka Governor to ban sakta hai.
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 30, 2025

Hello @sanjeevsanyal The Hypocrisy of U.S. Agricultural Trade Demands: A Case Study in Bad Faith https://t.co/8vBBwR3BFS
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 30, 2025

"Sir, this is Taco Bell." pic.twitter.com/4SiewiVzGv
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) June 30, 2025

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

गोरों का कॉपी ना करना क्यों कि दुर भविष्य दिखता नहीं

When futurists in the 1960s looked into the future, they saw flying cars. They did not see the Internet. Similarly when we look to 2050, we might end up making all sorts of projections that only reflect our prejudices rooted in today and yesterday.

मेरे को हाई स्कुल में सिखाया गया काठमाण्डु में fertilizer, fertilizer --- उसके बाद मैं अमरिका आया तो सिखाने लगे organic farming, organic farming ----- तो मेरे को लगा, अरे यार, तेरे fertilizer, fertilizer करने से पहले वही organic farming ही तो कर रहे थे हम लोग, तो तु क्युँ पीठ पर युँ लटक गया था?

जिस रास्ते से पश्चिमा देश आगे बढे उस रास्ते से सब आगे बढे तो ये पृथ्वी तबाह हो जाए --- वैसे तबाह तो हो ही गयी है। बहुत ऐसी चीजे हैं जो अफ्रिका, भारत चीन के पास है जो अमरिका के पास नहीं है लेकिन अमरिका चाहता है। भारतका एक उदहारण। मेरा मम्हारा बिहार। नेपाल बिहार में while I was growing up जो पढ़े लिखे बुजुर्ग थे वे कहते थे, हम लोग गप्पे मारते हैं, इसलिए तरक्की नहीं है, गोरे लोग काम करते हैं, देखो तरक्की। उसको देखो वो दिन भर गफास्टिंग करता रहता है, क्या फ्यूचर बनाएगा वो? तुम वो गल्ती मत करना। मेरे को लगता था सही ही कह रहे होंगे, बुजुर्ग जो ठहरे, पढ़े लिखे भी हैं। ट्रेन का लम्बा लम्बा सफर किये लोग, दुनिया घुमे लोग।

न्यु यॉर्क में मेरा एक दोस्त Scott ------ उसने उन बुजुर्गो की उलटी सोंच के multi multi hundreds of millions value की कम्पनी बना ली --- MeetUp.com ---- Scott का कहना है अमरिका में लोग गप्पे नहीं मारते, society weak हो गया है, चलो मिल के गप्पे मारते हैं। उतना कह के इस कम उम्र में ही ये बुजुर्ग बन गया।

सिखना सबसे चाहिए -- क्या गोरा क्या काला क्या दिलवाला। लेकिन original thinking बहुत जरुरी है।