CPI(M) slams Indo–US trade deal as ‘attack on sovereignty’

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Sunday (February 8, 2026) sharply criticised the Union Government over the Indo–U.S. trade agreement, calling it a “shameful surrender” that threatens India’s economic security and sovereignty.

In a statement, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau alleged that the BJP‑led government had granted “sweeping concessions” to the United States in the so‑called interim trade deal, including zero‑tariff access for several U.S. agricultural exports such as fruits, cotton, tree nuts, soybean oil and other food products. These decisions, the party warned, would inflict severe losses on lakhs of Indian farmers.

The party said apple growers in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and parts of the Northeast were already hit by earlier trade pacts with countries like New Zealand, and would face further distress. Cotton and soybean farmers, struggling with rising input costs and rural indebtedness, would be similarly affected, the statement noted.

The CPI(M) also expressed concern over reports that India had agreed to dismantle non‑tariff barriers on food and agricultural goods. Such a move, it said, would amount to rolling back farm support and subsidies, leaving domestic producers defenceless against heavily subsidised U.S. imports and making Indian agriculture “increasingly unviable”.

Terming the pact “an assault on sovereignty”, the Polit Bureau alleged that the U.S. was dictating India’s policy decisions, including oil purchases from Russia. It cited an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump that creates a mechanism to monitor India’s compliance with commitments under the deal, with the threat of punitive tariffs in case of deviation. Accepting such conditionalities, the CPI(M) said, amounted to “a shameful surrender” by the Union Government.

The party further criticised what it described as India’s deepening dependence on U.S. defence supplies, asserting that such a shift would prove detrimental to the country’s strategic interests.

Reiterating its opposition to the agreement, the CPI(M) demanded that the government immediately place the full details of the trade deal before Parliament and make them public. It urged the Centre to refrain from signing any pact that it said would harm the interests of Indian workers, farmers and the wider population.