Comments by "Bill Webb" (@billwebb9643) on "'Wrestling' For Rice In U.S. After India Bans Export; Panic Buying, Queues Across America | Watch" video.

  1. First I've heard of this - I assume this applies to certain varieties of rice grown in India? Because overall the US is an exporter of rice. No shortage here. As to food prices, Modiji just removed import restrictions on several products grown in the US, which should cut food costs in India, and will also make our farmers very happy. But don't worry - Indians in the US are not going to starve. There's plenty of other food in the stores.
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  2. Power? 99% of Americans aren't going to notice this. (I do understand the need to keep domestic prices down in India - but the Indians in the US have lots of other food options, and the money to pay for them.)
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  3. We eat some rice, but not necessarily rice from India. The US is a net exporter of rice. Maybe the Indians will buy some!
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  4.  @aleenaprasannan2146  Oh let me clarify - I am American - I meant US farmers are happy. Modiji was recently in the country and announced he was removing some tariffs on American crops.
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  5.  @HarpreetSingh-xg2zm  Panic buying is an American tradition - any talk of an upcoming shortage of anything and people run out and stock up, even if they already have a six month supply in their pantry. I shudder to think how much of this hoarded food winds up going to a landfill when people realize they can't get through 100 lbs of rice, or fifty loaves of bread, or 20 boxes of Captain Crunch.
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  6.  @aleenaprasannan2146  Depend on how much surplus they have, or their ability to substitute another item for what they're shipping out. They may wish to take advantage of the increased international price. I seem to recall Thailand launched a scheme a few years ago to withhold rice exports in order to raise the price - I don't recall if it worked, or if other players like China, the US, Vietnam undermined it by jumping in to make a quick profit. If any country is going hungry, the US is always happy to foist some soybeans on them!
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  7.  @madikiestherkhiangte9884  The reason is straightforward. He wants to keep domestic food prices down. UNLESS he is playing a game of 3-D chess and the real motive is to scare up international prices and THEN release the rice for export.
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  8. They're on the way - Modi just dropped tariff on US lentils. Our farmers are delighted.
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  9. No, the US exports more rice than it imports.
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  10. Modi is just trying to hold down food prices in India - shutting down certain exports, and also opening the door for more imports. If this creates a shortage of a particular strain of rice on the global market, the big producers like Thailand and China will grow more.
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  11. No, it looks like any US grocery store right before a hurricane or snow storm.
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  12. Really no, there are quite a few other foods on the shelves.
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  13. They're bumping up food imports and reducing exports, to keep food prices under control.
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  14.  @sumitchowdhury152  Well friend, I guess you've got me there. I could rebut with the fact that there are in fact quite a variety of food options here, and many opt for the healthy choices. But last night I had dinner with an Indian neighbor, and what was he serving? Steak! So, I guess what you say does apply to me!
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  15.  @aleenaprasannan2146  The import restrictions in question were apparently in retaliation for some sort of import restriction the US placed on Indian goods a few years ago. I guess Modiji and Biden worked things out.
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  16.  @aleenaprasannan2146  The rational behind Thailand thinking they could raise global prices was that surprisingly very little rice is grown for export (as opposed to say wheat - which major producers often grow expressly for export .) Most rice is consumed in the country of origin and thus very little goes on the international market, meaning that a single exporting country might indeed have a big impact on global prices if it increases or decreases how much gets released. As indeed Indian may be doing now with non-Basmati rice.
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  17.  @pennywise69  Indian food is indeed tasty, but Italian food is the best. That's where wheat comes in, to make the pasta.
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  18.  @sumitchowdhury152  ​ @sumitchowdhury152 India grows a LOT of wheat - twice as much as the US - what are they doing with it exactly?
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  19.  @sumitchowdhury152  LOL! AFAICT our fast food consists primarily of fat. You need flour to make naan and chapatis. Don't worry - nobody is going to starve. But getting back to the subject, contrary to the customary jingoistic yappings of the HT this export restriction was not intended as an FU to the US but more represents an effort to hold down food prices in India. Modiji was in the US a few weeks ago and slashed a bunch of restrictions on food imports from the US - this was presented as a goodwill gesture to us, but apparently his main agenda was in fact to feed his people. It does carry for Modi an ancillary foreign policy benefit - if India buys food from the US, any US politician who irritates India and screws up that arrangement risks losing the coveted farm vote, which can be, shall we say, politically decisive. He skillfully killed a couple of birds with one stone.
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  20. The Indians in the US can adapt to eating another variety of rice a lot more easily than a lot of people in India can adapt to higher rice prices. There is an election coming up and Modi wants to shore up support. As to any Indians in the US who still vote in Indian elections, they all support the BJP anyhow and this won't change anything.
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  21. Buy soybeans - we have tons in the US.
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  22. No, if India exports less food to US, and imports more food FROM the US, that will make most Americans quite happy.
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  23. The US exports a lot of food.
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