All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has issued the following declaration on the Modi government’s decision to allow import of cotton from the US:

The declaration of the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal that, “India has the facility to purchase raw cotton from US, then its finished textile products exports will be accepted at zero percent reciprocal tariff”, and “when the India-US Free Trade interim agreement is finalised, India will get it in fine print similar to the concessions extended to Bangladesh” is totally anti-farmer and atrocious. Import of raw cotton from USA will further reduce the already low domestic price of cotton and the crisis-ridden, suicide-prone cotton fields will witness intensifying indebtedness as well as greater peasant suicides.

The Commerce Minister's declaration on raw cotton import exposed the lies that “agriculture is out of the ambit of US Trade Deal” and “the Prime Minister will never compromise the interests of the farmers”, and substantiates the criticism that the FTAs signed by the BJP-led NDA Government represents total capitulation before US imperialism.

Goyal supports the highly mechanised, state-sponsored cotton farmers of USA, thus nakedly betraying the cotton farmers of India who are suffocating due to escalating cost of production and failure to get even the limited MSP@A2+FL price for their crops. This effectively signals that the government is encouraging domestic industrialists to import cotton from the United States while leaving Indian farmers to compete directly in the global market. Surviving such competition would be nearly impossible for the cotton farmers of India without effective market support.

The argument that farmers’ interests will not be harmed because the total US exports are relatively limited, and even if India fully removes import duties, domestic cotton consumption will not be significantly affected, is totally wrong. It ignores the impact that increased imports would have on domestic cotton prices – just as the rubber farmers were devastated, especially in Kerala, after the ASEAN-India FTA. At a time when farmers are already grappling with declining yields and rising input costs, further price depression could force many to abandon cotton cultivation altogether.

India’s cotton production for 2025–26 is estimated at 29.22 million bales, whereas US production for 2024–25 stood at 14.41 million bales—roughly half of India’s output. India has already reduced the import duty on cotton to zero for the period from September 30, 2025, to December 31, 2025. During this period the US export of cotton to India increased by 95 per cent. If Indian farmers are exposed to unrestricted global competition, they will not be able to compete with heavily subsidised and technologically advanced cotton producers in countries such as the United States, Australia and China. The likely outcome would be further distress, pushing already crisis-ridden cotton farmers towards abandoning agriculture altogether. It must be remembered that among farmers driven to suicide due to the ongoing agrarian crisis in India, a disproportionately large number come from cotton-growing regions such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.

The value of the textile industry of India in 2024-25 is approximately $179 billion or Rs.16,28,900 crore. Almost 80 per cent of the products are consumed domestically at the value of $142 billion or Rs.12,92,200 crore. The share of exports is $37 billion or Rs. 3,36,700 crore, out of which export to USA is $10.7 billion or Rs. 97,370 crore - only 6.2 per cent of the total value of Indian industry.

AIKS strongly reiterates the demand for resignation of Piyush Goyal who is playing the role of betraying Indian farmers. AIKS appeals to farmers to protest against the betrayal by intensifying campaigns in cotton villages