India has dismissed accusations of “dumping” rice in the United States, saying most of its rice exports are premium-grade basmati, which usually sells at higher prices than other varieties of rice.
Just last week, US President Donald Trump said that he might impose tariffs on Indian rice, accusing India of “dumping” its shipments into the US market. This refers to a practice where a product is exported at a lower price than its normal price, a claim that India entirely rejected.
This comes as New Delhi and Washington continue their trade talks without any major breakthrough.
“We don’t see a prima facie case of dumping, and as far as we know, the US has not started any anti-dumping investigation either,” Indian trade secretary Rajesh Agrawal was quoted as saying by Reuters in a news conference.
US tariffs on India
In August, Trump sharply raised tariffs on imports from India, doubling duties to as much as 50%, hitting several key Indian export sectors such as textiles, chemicals and food items like shrimp.
The tariff hike was also linked to Washington's concerns over India's continuous purchases of discounted Russian oil, for which Trump administration imposed an additional 25% tariff on the country as a penalty.
Even though Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Indian rice, he did not make it clear how much US tariffs would be imposed on those imports. He also did not mention whether the new tariff would come in addition to the 50% tariffs that New Delhi has already been paying.
How much rice does India export to US?
India, the world's largest rice exporter, shipped a total of 20.2 million metric tons of rice in the 2024-25 financial year ending in March.
Of this, 335,554 tons of rice were exported to the United States, with basmati accounting for the bulk of shipments at 274,213 tons, highlighting that exports to the US are largely dominated by premium varieties rather than low-priced rice.
It was previously reported that agriculture has been a point of friction in the India-US trade talks. Washington wanted India to open up its agriculture sector for the US, but New Delhi allegedly refused, Mint reported earlier.
A team led by Agrawal met US Deputy Trade Representative Rick Switzer in Delhi last week to discuss bilateral trade, including ongoing talks on a proposed trade pact between the two countries, Reuters reported.
