Various opposition leaders, including the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, criticised the India-US trade deal announced late on Monday, demanding more details.
The opposition criticism came after months of uncertainty. India and the United States announced what both sides are calling a breakthrough trade agreement, following a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump.
What Congress leaders said
Leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday launched a direct attack on PM Modi, saying that he is “rattled” and “compromised”
"Modi ji is rattled. The (US-India) trade deal, which was stalled for the past few months, was signed by Narendra Modi last night. There is extreme pressure on him. Narendra Modi ji's image can get damaged. The main thing is that our PM is compromised. The public needs to think about this. For the first time, the LoP was not allowed to speak on the President's speech. Narendra Modi ji has sold your hard work in this trade deal because he is compromised. He has sold the country,” Rahul Gandhi told the media outside the parliament.
The Raebareli MP claimed that Modi is “scared”, naming “two pressure points” on him, including the Epstein Files.
{{/usCountry}}The Raebareli MP claimed that Modi is “scared”, naming “two pressure points” on him, including the Epstein Files.
{{/usCountry}}“Narendra Modi ji is scared because those who shaped his image are now breaking this image. There is a case against Adani ji in the US; it is actually a case against Modi ji. The Epstein Files contain even more that the US has not yet released. There is pressure due to that as well. These are the two pressure points. The country should understand this," he added.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also demanded more clarity on the India-US trade deal, noting that the government had not shared any concrete details of the agreement with Parliament or the public.
Tharoor pointed out that, so far, the information available was limited to “President Trump’s tweets and press statements, with no details”. He said claims that India would purchase $500 billion worth of US goods and open its markets to American agricultural products raised “serious questions”, particularly because of the potential impact on Indian farmers.
While acknowledging that a trade agreement was important, Tharoor cautioned against premature celebration. “Reduced tariffs are better than higher ones,” he said, adding that “we cannot celebrate without understanding the terms”.
He stressed that the government must “take Parliament into confidence and clearly explain what has been agreed to”, arguing that the absence of official clarification was at the heart of the controversy. “Right now, there is concern because there is no clarity—the Congress is asking questions, and the BJP is not providing answers,” Tharoor said, calling this “the core issue”.
Karnataka minister for electronics, Priyank Kharge, also criticised the India-USA trade deal, drawing a comparison with the Goods and Services Tax (GST). He noted that while Washington has reduced tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent.
Kharge dismissed the trade deal as a "GST Bachao Utsav," alleging a severe trade imbalance. He claimed the agreement allows a 0% tariff on American goods entering India, compared to an 18% tariff on Indian goods entering the US.
"The government of India has become a madhouse. It is nothing but the GST Bachao Utsav, which the government celebrated so much. First, you implement high GSTs, then you reduce them after 8 years, then you celebrate the reduction. Similarly, the US tariff has been reduced to 18%, so you are celebrating a reduction while there is zero tariff on US goods...I don't know what the Government of India is celebrating. I don't see sense in this," Priyank Kharge told reporters.
Opposition joins in
Various other opposition leaders, like DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, also joined the criticism of the India-US trade deal on Tuesday, saying there has been no clarity from the government on the agreement. She demanded to know whether the farmers are protected under the agreement, after US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins claimed that India has agreed to unprecedented access to its agricultural market for export to the US.
"There's no clarity, everything is being announced by the President of the United States, and we don't know, actually, what is in it. We would like to know if the farmers of this county have been protected and what this deal is about. The parliament is in session, but there have been no statements to the House by the government. This is very confusing. This has no precedence in the way parliament is being treated," she told ANI.
BJP leaders hail ‘historic’ breakthrough
Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said the agreement will create new opportunities for farmers, MSMEs, entrepreneurs and skilled workers.
In a post on X, Goyal said the deal would help India access advanced US technology and accelerate the country’s journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047. Congratulating both leaders, he said the agreement reflects “the power of two like-minded, fair-trading democracies working together for shared prosperity.”
External affairs minister S Jaishankar, defence minister Rajnath Singh and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman also joined the Prime Minister in welcoming the deal.
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, earlier this morning, said in a post on X, the tariff reduction would expand market access, create jobs and spur innovation, calling economic cooperation the “firm foundation” of the India–US strategic relationship.
BJP MP Baijayant Jay Panda told PTI that the breakthrough was "historic”, saying it would redefine trade between the world’s two largest democracies and have a stabilising impact on global trade and geopolitics.