Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal stated that there is no prima facie case of India dumping rice in the US market. He clarified that over 80% of India’s rice exports to the US consist of basmati rice, which is a premium Geographical Indication (GI) product. Because basmati is an expensive variety with high export prices compared to general rice, the dumping allegations are considered unfounded.
Agrawal further noted that no formal dumping investigation has been initiated by the US government against India. These remarks follow comments by US President Donald Trump, who suggested that additional tariffs might be considered for countries allegedly dumping rice. Trump claimed tariffs would easily solve the “problem” after hearing complaints from US farmer representatives.
Currently, Indian rice already faces a 50% additional tariff in the US, which was imposed in August 2025. The two nations are actively negotiating a bilateral trade agreement intended to address these specific tariff concerns. Agrawal emphasized that India mainly exports limited quantities of non-basmati white rice to the US.