India should not be dumping rice into US market; will take care of it: President Trump
New York/Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump has said that India should not be "dumping" rice into the United States market and he will "take care" of it, while stressing that tariffs will solve the "problem" easily.
Trump held a roundtable in the White House on Monday with representatives of the farming and agriculture sector as well as key members of his cabinet, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
He announced USD 12 billion in federal aid for farmers.
Meryl Kennedy, who runs her family's agribusiness Kennedy Rice Mill in Louisiana, told Trump that rice producers in the southern part of the country are "really struggling' and that other nations are "dumping" rice into the US.
When asked by Trump which countries are dumping rice into America, Kennedy, sitting next to the President, replied, "India, and Thailand; even China into Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico used to be one of the largest markets for US rice. We haven't shipped rice into Puerto Rico in years."
Kennedy said that this has been happening for years and did not start during the Trump administration. "But unfortunately, we're seeing it in a much bigger way now," she said.
She said that tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are working, “but we need to double down”, to which Trump said, "You want more, I understand".
Trump then turned to Bessent and said, “India, tell me about India. Why is India allowed to do that? They have to pay tariffs. Do they have an exemption on rice?”
"No sir, we're still working on their trade deal," Bessent replied.
Trump then said, "But they shouldn’t be dumping. I mean, I heard that. I heard that from others. They can’t do that."
Kennedy then told Trump there's a World Trade Organisation case against India.
Trump asked Kennedy to give him the names of the countries dumping rice into the US and instructed Bessent to note down the names. "India. Who else?" Trump said.
"India, Thailand, China into Puerto Rico, not into the continental US, but into Puerto Rico. Those are the main culprits," Kennedy said, adding that American farmers can feed the US as well as nations around the world, but "we need fair trade, not free trade".
Trump said this will be “so easy to settle”.
"It's solved so quickly with tariffs to these countries that are illegally shipping. It's solved. Your problem is solved in one day. That's why we have to win the Supreme Court case," he said, adding that this problem will be solved in “one day”.
Lower courts in the US have ruled that Trump's use of emergency powers to impose tariffs on nations around the world is illegal, and the case will now be decided by the Supreme Court.
"It's so unfair. They go out of business. They put everyone out of business," Trump said.
Trump said that America lost half of its car industry and chip industry because these products were being manufactured in other countries, and previous administrations did not impose tariffs on these imports into the US.
"It's the same thing with rice. It'll be good, will get it solved very quickly. We just need the countries. Just give us the names of the countries. Tariffs, again. It solves the problem in two minutes," the president said.
Kennedy then said that they have "bought" the largest brands at retail, too, so they have an incentive to subsidise their products. When Trump asked, "Who did that?" she said, "Indians".
"We'll take care of it. It’s so easy," Trump said.
India is the largest producer of rice -- 150 million tonnes -- and has a 28 per cent share of the global market. It is also the top exporter, with a 30.3 per cent share of global exports in 2024–2025, Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF) data shows.
According to information on the website of the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), India exported about 2.34 lakh tonnes of rice to the US in the 2024 fiscal, less than 5 per cent of its total global basmati rice exports of 52.4 lakh tonnes.
West Asia remains the dominant destination for Indian rice, it said.
Among the rice varieties that India exports globally, 'Sona Masoori' is preferred in markets such as the US and Australia.
Trump has imposed a 50 per cent tariff on India, the highest in the world, including 25 per cent for Delhi's purchases of Russian oil.
Indian Rice Exporters Federation National President Prem Garg had termed the 25 per cent reciprocal tariff as a temporary "hurdle" for rice shipments and had stated that India still retains a pricing advantage over competitors like Vietnam and Pakistan.
"This tariff is a temporary hurdle, not a long-term roadblock. With strategic planning, diversification, and flexibility, Indian rice exporters can protect and even expand their presence in the US market," Garg had said earlier this year.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
