Maize Stalling India-US Trade Deal? Two Reasons Why India Refuses To Buy American Corn Even As Trump Pushes Harder | World News
New Delhi: The commercial negotiations between India and the United States emerged as a friction point, Egypt or Egypt. American Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick received a cynical shift in India’s import policy and asked why a country of 1.4 billion people could not buy a single Egypt from the United States.
His comments emphasized the increasing discomfort in Washington’s refusal to open India’s market to American Egypt.
The data shows that India imported only 1,100 tons of corn from the United States in 2024-25. This amount can be neglected compared to the country’s total corn imports of 0.97 million tons. India chose to supply cereals from Myanmar and Ukraine.
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The lack of American Egypt in India’s basket shadowed wider trade negotiations. When the negotiations started in the new Delhi the day before yesterday, Egypt was tightly placed on the table. The problem is not just about food anymore. Now it carries the weight of diplomacy.
Why does India avoid American Egypt?
There are two main obstacles to the US exports. The first is tariffs. India allows corn imports up to 500,000 tons with a 15% task. Any volume that attracts a 50 % upright task. The second is the regulation. India put a prohibition on the genetically modified (GM) corn. This forbidden prevents the introduction of American Egypt because approximately 94% of the US crops are GM -based.
Why is it so desperate to export American corn?
The United States puts more pressure than usual due to the decrease in demand from China. Beijing reduced Egyptian imports from Washington and fell from $ 5.2 billion in 2022 to 2024 to only 331 million dollars.
In general, US Egyptian exports fell sharply, in 2022 from 18.57 billion dollars to $ 2024 to 13.7 billion dollars. Global demand is seen as an important market that is not used by India.
The United States is now looking for new markets. It is seen as a obvious place with the demand for the production of poultry, milk and ethanol. This urgency turned into pressure. Washington wants the new Delhi to open its doors.
Why is India resisting?
The domestic economy tells the story. Egypt in India sells between 22 and RS 23 per kilogram. The government fixed the minimum support price at 24 RS. Egyptian kilograms in the United States were produced less than 15 RS per kilogram. If imports are allowed at cheaper rates, Indian farmers will face losses.
Bihar, one of the largest corn -producing states, would be shot most. Elections are coming in the state. Product politics has become inseparable from the economy.
At one stage, India thought to allow American corn imports only for the production of ethanol. This proposal was rapidly shelved after political return. Since then, the government has drawn a definite line that it will not lift restrictions on the GM crops or not to facilitate tariffs in corn imports.
Negotiations between India and the United States continue, but the authorities admit that it is not possible to progress immediately. As you approach the elections, trade negotiators expect very little movement in agricultural imports.
The United States may continue to apply pressure, but there is little chance of acting until the elections end in India. Until then, corn will only remain more than grain. It will stand as a symbol of the larger power game between the new Delhi and Washington.
