The farmers’ body emphasised that India’s dairy sector is one of the world’s largest, underpinned predominantly by small and marginal producers, and that cheap, subsidised U.S. agricultural goods could severely disrupt rural economies. They warned that domestic milk and dairy pricing structures are vulnerable to external competition, particularly given the scale and subsidisation of American agricultural exports, which enjoy advantages in efficiency and processing scale.

In addition to dairy, the group raised alarm over the potential import of crops used in ethanol production, suggesting that opening these markets could further depress domestic commodity values. Many farmers are already operating on thin margins, and the spectre of cheaper foreign grain and oilseed products threatens to compound existing financial pressures on rural producers.

The appeal reflects a broader domestic resistance to liberalising sensitive agricultural segments in India’s trade negotiations with the United States, where agriculture and dairy repeatedly emerge as contentious issues. Stakeholders including dairy cooperatives and farm organisations have consistently opposed market access concessions that could give an edge to highly subsidised U.S. imports, arguing that such moves would weaken India’s food security and rural employment base.