US Senator urges India to remove tariffs and trade barriers on pulses

A senior US senator at a meeting this week urged Union Trade and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to remove tariffs and trade barriers on pulses.

Republican Senator Steve Daines represents the State of Montana in the United States Senate. Montana is one of the top pulse-producing states in the United States and some tariffs imposed by India, according to Daines, are hurting farmers in his state.

“With Montana being the number one pulse producer in the country and India the largest consumer of pulses in the world, this is a critical market for Montana to open,” he said.

“We need to level the playing field and increase access to the Indian market for the pulse growers in Montana. Developing these relationships with key Indian trade officials and Indian pulse importers will go a long way in ensuring that Montana is at the top of discussions at the trade forum later this month, and in removing tariffs and trade barriers it faces. Montana farmers are currently facing it, ”Daines mentioned.

visit to india

Visiting India ahead of the US-India Trade Policy Forum later this month, Daines also presented Goyal with letters from the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, the Montana Grain Growers Association and of the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council in Goyal, calling for tariff removal. and Montana’s legume trade barriers.

Daines then visited the Naya Bazaar in Old Delhi and met some of India’s pulse importers. He shared more of Farver Farms Lentil Crunchers as a representation of the quality harvests Montana farmers have to offer.

During the trip, Daines also met with leaders and students of the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi and visited some of their laboratories. Daines discussed the need for the U.S. and Indian tech and innovation sectors to find areas of collaboration to counter China’s influence.

In February 2020, then-US President Donald Trump personally delivered a letter from Daines to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for favorable provisions on pulse crops in any trade deal with India, according to a statement from hurry.