New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold an Economic Advisory Council (EAC) meeting to review the current state of the economy amid 25 per cent tariffs imposed on it by the US. Seven Union Ministers, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, are expected to participate in the meeting at 6.30 pm at PM Modi’s 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence. The EAC meeting assumes significance as it coincides with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s two-day visit to India, beginning today.
It also comes days before External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Russia as India seeks to step up engagements with Beijing and Moscow amid uncertainty in trade ties with the US. The upcoming meeting comes after US President Donald Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on all goods India exports to the US, and the planned doubling of the levy to 50 percent from August 27 to punish New Delhi for its oil purchases from Russia.
The sixth round of the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) was postponed as a trade team from Washington deferred its visit to New Delhi. New Delhi and Washington have committed to concluding the first phase of the BTA by the fall of 2025, and aim to more than double bilateral trade from the current USD 191 billion to USD 500 billion by 2030.
Following Trump’s announcement of an extra 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports, PM Modi, in his Independence Day speech, urged a shift towards ‘swadeshi’ (Made in India) products and voiced solidarity with farmers and fishermen. Modi is standing like a wall against any harmful policy related to the farmers, fishermen and cattle-rearers of India. We will never accept any compromise regarding our farmers, their livestock rearers and fishermen, PM Modi said.
A crucial discussion on the Ukraine conflict between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place in Alaska on Saturday (India time), raising hopes that improved Washington-Moscow ties could soften the additional 25 per cent tariff on India. Trump, who only days earlier had struck a hard line against Russia, remarked, “I might have to consider it (sanctions) in two or three weeks, but there’s no immediate need. If I did secondary sanctions now, that would be devastating for them.”
Read Also : PM Modi Met CP Radhakrishnan Ahead of Vice Presidential Elections, NDA Nominated CP Radhakrishnan