Rahul Gandhi and Piyush Goyal (R)
NEW DELHI: Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday continued his barrage of attacks on Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi over his concerns on the India-US trade deal, saying that “he is exposing himself with his own foolishness.” He once again put forward the Centre’s clarification on the trade pact, which followed nearly a year of negotiations, as the war of words over the issue continued.He also alleged that the Lok Sabha LoP is “trying to sabotage India’s growth story with his politics of negativity.”
Taking aim at Rahul Gandhi, Goyal claimed he had countered Rahul’s “fearmongering,” which he said was misleading farmers and exporters, by presenting what he described as “hard facts” on the India-US trade deal.He posted on X, writing in three points:
- “Our 9 FTAs covering 38 developed countries have opened a potential textile market of Rs 45 lakh crore. India exports Rs 4 lakh crore worth textiles today. Imagine the growth potential, creating lakhs of jobs for young men and women!”
- “Rahul is both attacking textile exporters and trying to scare our Indian farmers that their demand for cotton will fall. He does not know that the US production of cotton is very small, and after domestic consumption, USA exports of cotton and yarn are only $6 billion. He also doesn’t know that Bangladesh imports $2.7 billion cotton from India, which they will have to continue doing because the US does not have any surplus cotton. Hence, with the huge potential for growth in our textile sector, demand for Indian cotton will continuously grow and increase the income of farmers.”
- “And by the way, even when your family was running the Congress Government, the Foreign Trade Policy and SEZ Act [rule 27(1)] always allowed duty free import of raw material, including cotton, to be used for producing export goods. So when Rahul Gandhi attacks “zero-duty import for export,” he is attacking policies his own party started! What an ignorant Leader of Opposition. No wonder he fails in election after election.”
Clarifying further on the deal, Goyal added, “Rahul ji, both Indian farmers and textile workers stand to gain hugely by the US trade deal and other FTAs done by the NDA Govt… and the people of India trust PM Modi. Your bundle of lies will fail.”Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi also stepped up his attack on the recently finalised trade deal with Washington, claiming that the agreement would hurt India’s cotton farmers and textile exporters. In a post on X, he alleged that the government had walked into a “trap” that leaves millions of families staring into an “abyss of unemployment.” “18% Tariff versus 0% – Let me explain how the Prime Minister, a master at telling lies, and his Cabinet are spreading confusion on this. And how they’re deceiving the country’s cotton farmers and textile exporters through the India-US trade deal.”Rahul said that after Indian garments were subjected to an 18% tariff in the US market, he raised in Parliament the issue of a special concession being extended to Bangladesh. According to him, a minister replied, “If we want the same benefit, we’ll have to import cotton from the US.”
