Indian apple growers plan protest against India-US trade deal:Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal assures them better rates

The India-US trade deal’s latest developments have left apple growers with a bitter taste in their mouth. On one side, the government of India says that farmers are fully protected as per the nitty and gritty of the framework reached, and, on the othe side, apple growers are crying foul and have organised a protest on 12 February 2026.
Why apple growers are worried? The fear among some segments of the agrarian society is that an increase in the import of farm produce from America to India at lower or no duty will crash prices of similar items produced domestically. This will negatively impact farmers income. Commerce Minister’s clarification! After the speculations became wild, the Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal through media conferences and a slew of social media posts on his ‘X’ profile tried to clariy that the government of India has exercised utmost precautions and ensured protection of farmer’s income. US apples will cost minimum of ₹130-140 per piece under the new trade deal: Piyush Goyal Goyal says that the government of india has agreed to open the apple market (provide Indian apples market’s access to the US government) but has also put a quota on import of the US apple. This quota is less than what India imports from America, currently. Moreover, the Central Government has also put a minimum import price of ₹80 per plus ₹20 duty on every piece of apples which will be imported from America to India under this quota. US apples currently cost minimum of around ₹100 per piece in India: Commerce Minister India is an importer of apple. India produces about 20-21 lakh tonnes while our consumption is about 26-27 lakh tonnes. We continue to import apples every year. Consumption continues to increase. We import substantial quantities of apple from the US. The government of India has imposed a minimum import price of ₹50 a kilo. Currently, there is a 50% duty also. This takes the landed price to ₹75 of US apples in India. Piyush Goyal is lying: Apple Growers Association of India, president, Ravinder Chauhan Completely disagreeing with the commerce minister, Chauhan says that whatever Goyal said was a lie. He added that the apple growers’ concern are valid and prices may indeed crash if the government imports the ‘Malus Domestica’ products according to terms and conditions agreed under the trade deal. What do conditions of framework of India-US interim trade deal say? India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all U.S. industrial goods and a wide range of U.S. food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products. – White House On the contrary, Ashok Gulati, Indian agricultural economist, is of the notion that whatever Goyal said is right. There is no reason for domestic apple growers to worry about. Which state produces most apple in India? HP is the largest producer of apple in India followed by Kashmir. HP produces around 5.5 lakh metric tons of apples annually, contributing over ₹5,500 crore to the state economy. The ‘Malus Domestica’ grown in HP is exported to other parts of the country. Many states are dependent on the Apple State of India for this. From which countries apples are imported to India? In India, the ‘Malus Domestica’ is mostly imported from China, Italy, Iran, Iraq, US, etc. On fear of the apple price crash, Gulati, adds that the higher minimum import duty on US apple imports under the interim agreement as compared to the one levied on apples currently exported to India from America addresses the protection of the farmers. Hence, there is nothing to worry about!