India vows to protect farmers amid Trump's 25% tariff row

India vowed on Thursday to protect its labour-intensive agriculture sector, a central sticking point in bogged-down trade talks with the US, as Washington threatened 258 tariffs, triggering outrage from the opposition and a slump in the rupee.

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Without a deal, the rate will go into effect from Friday and single out India for harsher trade conditions than its major peers, potentially damaging the economy of a strategic US partner in Asia seen as a counterbalance to Chinese influence.

Though negotiations are continuing, they have hit a wall due to the United States' insistence that India open its agricultural markets.

New Delhi has long shielded the sector, which with over 40% of the workforce engaged in farming activities constitutes the most influential voting bloc in the world's most populous nation.

"The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and (medium and small businesses)," India's trade minister Piyush Goyal said in a statement in the parliament.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a CNBC interview on Thursday that the US trade team was frustrated with India, adding that the future of trade deal between the two nations was now up to India.