Trump to realise trade policy failure within 6-9 months, says EAC-PM member

Economic Advisory to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Neelkanth Mishra on Friday said in the next 6-9 months US President Donald Trump will figure out that his tariff policy is not working.

On August 6, the US announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on all Indian imports, on top of an existing 25 per cent duty, taking the total duty to 50 per cent effective August 27.

The White House said the measure responds to India's continued purchase of Russian oil.

"It is reasonably clear that in the next 6-9 months, they will figure out that it (tariff policy) is not working," Mishra said while speaking at the Business Today India@100 event.

He noted that the US government's decision to announce additional 25 per cent tariff on all Indian imports is an attempt to break away from India.

"This (Trump) regime is acting in a way that it is very hard to understand who is taking decisions," Mishra said.

The EAC-PM member observed that the Indian economy is unlikely to grow at 9-10 per cent on a sustainable basis.

"India has been growing at a reasonable rate... 7 per cent growth is doable, achievable," he said.

Speaking at the same event, former Deputy Chairman of erstwhile Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said Trump has upended the rule-based trading system and is acting like a bully.

"Most economists think that his policies will not make America great again... Full effect of his tariffs will be felt in the next 3-4 months," Ahluwalia said.

He said India should try to negotiate with the US to get a good trade deal. Ahluwalia noted that India has been growing at an average of 6.5 per cent for the last 23 years.

"It is a crisis time... 6.5 per cent economic growth rate is not good enough, as it is not generating enough jobs," he said.