US tariff, India-UK deal: Trade unions, farmers call nationwide protest on August 13. Here are their demands

CTUs-SKM, a joint platform of 10 Central Trade Unions and Samyukt Kisan Morcha, has announced a nationwide protest on August 13, 2025 against US President Donald Trump's tariff threats and India-UK Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA).

The statement released on Monday urged workers, farmers, students and patriotic citizens to show their dissent by participating in various mass actions, including tractor and motorcycle rallies, protest demonstrations, public gatherings, and other forms of protest as decided by different platforms and partner organisations.

US tariff threatens oil trade with Russia

According to the statement cited by PTI, the CTUs-SKM strongly condemned the recent threats by Trump to impose 25 per cent tariffs on India, along with a punitive tax for the oil trade deal with Russia.

They characterised these measures as a “blatant act of economic coercion aimed at dictating India, including its trade relations with Russia.”

The organisations highlight what they perceive as hypocrisy in US trade policies, which demand open markets for American corporations while weaponising tariffs to bully sovereign nations, the news report said.

The East India Company colonised India through trade; today, CETA and US trade deals are the new instruments of corporate imperialism, they alleged.

Demands set by protesters

Beyond the specific concerns, the protesting group has put forth several demands regarding India’s trade policy:

    Rejection of US tariff threats: India must reject Trump's tariff threats and assert its sovereign right to trade with all nations, including Russia.
   

    Review of India-UK CETA: The trade agreement must be reviewed and altered immediately.

    Halt US-India trade deal negotiations: All ongoing negotiations for a US-India trade deal must be halted to prevent further corporate exploitation.

    Parliamentary scrutiny for future deals: No more secret trade agreements. All future deals must undergo full parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation.

Govt’s ‘meek submission’ flayed

The CTUs-SKM criticised the government for the deal. “Equally alarming is the Indian government's meek submission to these threats, reflecting its growing subservience to western imperialist interests,” PTI reported labour unions as saying.

They further noted that this surrender is further evident in the recently signed India-UK CETA, a deal that sacrifices the interests of India's farmers, workers, and economic independence at the altar of foreign corporate profits.

Instead of firmly rejecting this intimidation, the central government has responded with silence, signaling its willingness to compromise India's strategic autonomy in favour of the USA, it stated.

The groups warned that this capitulation could pave the way for an even more exploitative India-US trade deal, potentially granting American agri-business corporations like Cargill unrestricted access to India's dairy sector and agriculture, leading to price collapses, destruction of the farming community and endangering food security of the nation, PTI reported.