World Trade

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said India is willing to play a leadership role in driving WTO reforms, but emphasised that the nature of those reforms must be shaped in consultation with developing and least-developed countries to ensure they serve global welfare rather than the agenda of a few advanced nations. He said the world recognises India's strength and leadership and the country is a responsible global citizen and it will continue to be the voice of the Global South. "We would love to lead reforms (at the World Trade Organization). But that reform will be decided in consultation with other developing and less developed countries, so that we can truly work for the welfare of the world and not just the agenda of a few developed nations," he said. The minister was here to participate in the CII Partnership Summit 2025. Goyal was replying to a question on remarks made by WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala that India should take a leadership role in the

World Trade Organisation Chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Friday said India should be a leader of the reform process at the WTO. She said that India's economy is growing at a healthy pace and it is a leader in areas such as technology. She said that there is a need to look at areas in the WTO which are not working and discuss ways to correct that. "How can we correct that and here India can be a leader, India should be a leader of the reform process at the WTO...we must correct all wrongs," Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said here at CII's partnership Summit 2025. Referring to high tariffs imposed by the US, she said the member nations should pay attention to the concerns flagged by America. India too has flagged concerns on issues like public stockholding, she said adding repeating past grievances will not help to build a strong global trading system. She appealed to all the members of the WTO to work together to strengthen the global trad

Global free trade is in crisis, the head of the World Trade Organisation chief said Tuesday while meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shigaru Ishiba on Tuesday. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organisation, told Ishiba that she has high expectations for Japan as a champion of open markets as US President Donald Trump disrupts world commerce with his fast-changing tariffs and other policies. Trade is facing very challenging times right now and it is quite difficult, she said. We should try to use this crisis as an opportunity to solve the challenges we have and take advantage of new trends in trade. Japan, as a champion of the multilateral trading system must help maintain, strengthen and reform the WTO, the Japanese Foreign Ministry cited her as saying. They met a day after the United States and China said they had agreed to slash recent sky- high tariffs for 90 days to allow time for negotiations. Japan is among many countries yet to reach a deal with the Tr

The Panama Canal—a 51-mile or 82 km engineering marvel that powers global trade. For over a century, this narrow strip of water has bridged the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

At least three chief ministers -- Devendra Fadnavis, Chandrababu Naidu and Revant Reddy -- will join over 100 CEOs and other leaders from India in Davos next month for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025. Naidu will also be joined by his son and senior Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh, while Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Tamil Nadu Minister T R B Rajaa and Uttar Pradesh minister Suresh Khanna will also be there for the five-day annual congregation in the Swiss ski resort town starting on January 20, 2025. Some senior Union ministers are also expected to attend the meeting, but their names are still being finalised. Those who attended the last WEF annual meeting from the central government included Ashwini Vaishnaw, Smriti Irani and Hardeep Singh Puri. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also attended the meeting in the past, but there is no official word so far about his participation in the high-profile summit, for which the main theme this time would b

Western observers rarely pay more than lip service to the roughly 85 per cent of the world's population living in the Global South

These longer routes are detrimental to global efforts to reduce carbon emissions as ships are re-routing thousands of miles around Africa's Horn to avoid the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden

Some WTO members, including the US and the UK, have raised questions on India's USD 48 billion farm input subsidies for 2022-23, which according to New Delhi has increased due to inflation and rising costs of fertilisers, an official said. The issue was flagged by these members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) during a meeting of the committee on agriculture on May 23-24. "India explained that the input subsidies are mainly for power, irrigation, and fertilizers and that the increase was due to inflation and rising costs of fertilizers. It insisted that the information had been duly notified to the WTO," the Geneva-based official said. The 166-member WTO is a global trade body. It also adjudicates trade disputes between the member countries. India has notified these numbers to the WTO in April. Under WTO rules of special and differential treatment, developing member countries are allowed to provide these subsidies to low-income or resource-poor farmers. "India's new notificat

In India, the export and import figures have been trending downwards mainly due to fall in commodity prices and freight rates compared to the previous year

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Sunday that the India-Middle East-Europe corridor will become a basis of world trade for the coming centuries and history will remember that it was envisioned in India. In his monthly Mann ki Baat broadcast, Modi recalled the "Silk route", an ancient trade corridor used by India when it was a prosperous and great trading power, and said the country suggested the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor at the recent G20 Summit. The successful summit after the success of India's Chandrayaan-3 mission doubled every citizen's happiness, he said while noting that the two accomplishments have figured most in the messages he has received from people. India's leadership was acknowledged by the world as it succeeded in making the African Union a member of the G20, he said. Bharat Mandapam, the venue which hosted the G20 Summit, has become a "celebrity", the prime minister said, noting that people have been clicking selfies with the state-of-the-ar

The WTO estimates that the cost of splitting the world trade system into separate blocs would be about 5 per cent of real income at the global level

The US has also proposed possible business-academia tie-ups to increase the availability of skilled workers and consultations with business and worker associations to develop policies

The transformation that some are calling "reglobalization" will take years, and trade data is only beginning to offer clues about the scope of the changes, and who's winning and losing

Foreign trade policy must engage with realities of world trade

It must push exports of 18 items to developing nations, says report

The World Trade Organisation is predicting global trade volumes will grow a lackluster 1% next year as crises and challenges weigh on markets, including high energy prices, rising interest rates and uncertainties about Chinese manufacturing output amid the lingering COVID-19 pandemic. The Geneva-based trade body said Wednesday that the amount of goods shipped between countries are expected to rise 3.5% this year, up from the 3% that WTO anticipated in its first forecast for the year in April. In 2023, the prediction is for such trade volumes to grow just 1%, down from the 3.4% expected previously. The risks are certainly to the downside next year, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told reporters at its headquarters. This year, the higher predicted increase in trade volumes stems from better data that arrived in the middle of the year, contributing to a clearer forecast, and a boom in trade volumes from oil- and gas-producing countries in the Middle East as supplies from Russ

India will make a pitch for finding a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security in the WTO meet in Geneva starting June 12, an official said. Besides, issues including agri subsidies and World Food Programme will be on the agenda of the 12th ministerial conference, the highest decision making body of the 164-member World Trade Organization (WTO), the official said. For the meeting, the Indian team will be led by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. "Finding permanent solution to public stockholding will be our key demand," the official added. Under global trade norms, a WTO member country's food subsidy bill should not breach the limit of 10 per cent of the value of production based on the reference price of 1986-88. As part of permanent solution, India has asked for things like amendments in the formula to calculate the food subsidy cap and inclusion of programmes implemented after 2013 under the ambit of 'Peace Clause'. As an interim measu

Globalisation is morphing as new agendas come into focus. These now drive action on climate change, taxation of global companies, tackling terrorism, sharing vaccines and the like, writes T N Ninan

The traffic congestion caused by a cargo ship that blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week continued to ease on Friday

Countries that have signed the RCEP agreement can start negotiations with India for joining the pact once New Delhi submits a written request stating its intention for the same