CTUs-SKM calls for massive protests on 13th August 2025 against Trump’s Tariff Threats & India-UK CETA

04th August 2025

CTUs-SKM, the platform of ten Central Trade Unions and Samyukt Kisan Morcha, strongly condemns the recent threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose 25% tariffs on India and also punitive tax for oil trade deal with Russia. This is a blatant act of economic coercion aimed at dictating India including its trade relations with Russia. These aggressive measures expose the hypocrisy of U.S. trade policies, which demand open markets for American corporations while weapon zing tariffs to bully sovereign nations.
Equally alarming is the Indian government’s meek submission to these threats, reflecting its growing subservience to western imperialist interests. This surrender is further evident in the recently signed India-UK Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (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 U.S.A. This capitulation paves the way for an even more exploitative India-U.S. trade deal, which would grant American agribusiness corporations like Cargill unrestricted access to India’s dairy sector, agriculture, resulting in collapsing prices & destroying the farming community along with endangering food security of the nation. It would also trigger deindustrialization in India and skyrocketing unemployment.
The India-UK CETA, is also a direct attack on India’s food security, healthcare, and economic self-reliance. The agreement will allow British agribusinesses to flood Indian markets with cheap dairy, wheat, and meat—mirroring the devastation caused by the India-ASEAN FTA, which crashed rubber prices by 70% in Kerala. The deal also opens India’s healthcare sector to British corporate takeovers, accelerating the privatization of hospitals and extending drug monopolies that will spike medicine.
We highly appreciate the workers and farmers who participated in the one-day strike on 09-07-2025 and also those who had given full moral support to make this strike action a grand success Despite this massive workers’ strike and farmers’ protests on 9th July 2025, the Central government has not abandoned its anti-worker and anti-farmer policies. The government has continued its pro-corporate agenda with the anti-working class four labour codes and the denial of a legal guarantee for MSP@C2+50% and loan waivers. The Central government has aggressively continued its disastrous assault on people’s rights to Jal, Jangal, aur Zameen (water, forests, and land) for corporate greed. It has also persisted in forceful land acquisition using outdated laws under the guise of so-called “development,” devastating the environment. Its policy of privatisation and sale of Public sector enterprises and public services continues aggressively against national interest.
CTUs-SKM calls upon all farmers, workers, students, and patriotic citizens to join the nationwide day of resistance on August 13, 2025, with various mass actions like tractor and motorcycle rallies, protest demonstrations, public gatherings, and other forms of protest as decided by different platforms and partner organizations. Through this protest, CTUs-SKM will carry forward the legacy of the freedom struggle, upholding the values of freedom, sovereignty, and people’s unity.
In this protest, CTUs-SKM stand for the following demands, along with addressing the burning issues of workers, farmers, and other toiling masses:
Our Demands:
1. India must reject Trump’s tariff threats and assert its sovereign right to trade with all nations, including Russia.
2. The India-UK CETA must be reviewed and altered immediately, with no ratification in Parliament.
3. All negotiations for a U.S.-India trade deal must be halted to prevent further corporate exploitation.
4. No more secret trade agreements—all future deals must undergo full parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation.
The East India Company colonized India through trade—today, CETA and U.S. trade deals are the new instruments of corporate imperialism. On August 13, farmers and workers will rise in defense of sovereignty and freedom, sending a clear message:
“We will not let history repeat! Quit India, again!”