Shares of rice exporters fell in trading on 9 December after US President Donald Trump threatened to put new tariffs on India’s rice shipments to the US, hurting investor optimism.

LT Foods, known for brands such as Daawat, saw its share price decline by nearly 8% to Rs 362.2 per share. This comes as the firm claims that its ‘Royal’ brand is the number one basmati rice brand in North America.

GRM Overseas shares declined over 6%, while KRBL, Kaveri Seed Company, and AWL Agri Business (previously Adani Wilmar) shares lost about 2.5% each.

US President Donald Trump has indicated that his government may impose new taxes on agricultural imports, including Indian rice and Canadian fertilisers. He was responding to American farmers’ complaints that cheap foreign goods are harming home producers.

While unveiling $12 billion in additional aid for US farmers at the White House, Trump stated that imported farm products were placing pressure on domestic producers and reaffirmed his commitment to combating unfair trade practices.

“They shouldn’t be dumping,” Trump said, referring to India’s exports of rice to the US. “I mean, I heard that, I heard that from others. You can’t do that,” he added.

Export-oriented stocks fell sharply earlier when the Trump administration raised duties on Indian imports by 50%, citing New Delhi’s continuous purchase of Russian oil. However, increased anticipation that India and the United States will finalise the trade agreement has bolstered share prices in brief patches.

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