Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 9 (UNI) Congress is holding demonstrations across Kerala today against the new import tariffs imposed by the United States on India.
The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President Sunny Joseph criticised the tariffs as a major blow to Kerala’s agrarian economy and directly attributed the crisis to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flawed foreign policy.
Under the leadership of District Congress Committees, protest marches are underway across all district headquarters in the state.
Sunny Joseph cautioned that while the US tariffs will affect India as a whole, Kerala’s economy will bear a particularly harsh brunt.
Echoing these concerns, Kerala Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal warned that the punitive US tariffs could push the state’s economy back into the distressing conditions seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He highlighted that the tariffs, officially imposed to penalise India for importing crude oil from Russia, would severely impact Kerala’s seafood, spices, agriculture, and coir sectors. “The threat to 14 lakh dairy farmers from cheaper imported milk alone is alarming,” he said.
Balagopal further accused the US of using tariffs as a strategy to open up India’s vast consumer market to American products rather than genuinely disciplining Russia, from which the US procures key resources like uranium and fertilisers.
