Wto

Revenge of the rich: Time to rethink and rewrite the global trade script

In the 25-odd years of this global trade order, there are now new losers and winners

European Union open to resolving tech trade dispute with India at WTO

The longstanding dispute centres on India's imposition of tariffs on information and communication technology (ICT) goods

Has Trump and the world made the WTO obsolete? | Trump tariffs | Trade tensions

India unlikely to raise dispute against US at WTO over reciprocal tariff

The consultation on steel and aluminium safeguard measures is the first case involving India and the US at the WTO

India's export performance remains uninspiring amid weak global position

In 2015, the government said that it aims to increase India's exports of merchandise and services from $465.9 billion in 2013-14 to approximately $900 billion

The new bilateral age: EU FTA urgency key to shaping the new trade order

The World Trade Organization (WTO) seemed unable to rein in China's hidden subsidies to its exporting sectors, and to restore a level playing field for global trade

Indian tariffs are WTO compliant; Centre should convey to US: GTRI

India's import duties are in compliance with the global trade rules and the government should convey this to the US administration, economic think tank GTRI said on Sunday. It also said that negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement with the US presents several challenges. The US may push India to open government procurement to American firms, reduce agricultural subsidies, weaken patent protections by allowing evergreening, and remove restrictions on data flows, it said, adding India has resisted these demands for decades and is still not prepared to accept. US President Donald Trump on multiple occasions have alleged that India has high tariffs and termed it "tariff king" and "tariff abuser". Tariffs are import duties imposed and collected by the government and paid by companies to bring foreign goods into the country. "India's tariffs are consistent with WTO (World Trade Organisation) rules. "They are the result of a single undertaking at the WTO which all countries ...

AI-powered trade revolution: Opportunities and challenges for India

AI is transforming global trade, offering opportunities and challenges. India must adapt its policies, leveraging AI for export growth and addressing regulatory issues

WTO: India for 'per capita distribution of subsidies' criteria for fishers

India also flagged the difference in the amount of subsidy provided by developing nations such as India, as compared to developed nations

Biden should revive WTO dispute settlement mechanism before leaving

The decision to give a second term to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reflects broad recognition of her exceptional leadership and strategic vision for the future of the WTO

WHO chief congratulates Okonjo on reappointment as WTO Director General

On her reappointment, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala thanked the members and highlighted the challenges she plans to address

Incumbent WTO head Iweala lone contender for top job in Trump era 2.0

During his first term, Trump paralysed WTO's top adjudications court by blocking judge appointments - a status that continues today - and announced tariffs on U.S. imports of steel and aluminum

China files complaint at WTO over EU anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese EVs

China has moved forward with a complaint at the World Trade Organisation that alleges the European Union has improperly set anti-subsidy tariffs on new Chinese-made electric vehicles. The Chinese diplomatic mission to the WTO said Monday it strongly opposes the measures and insisted its move was designed to protect the EV industry and support a global transition toward greener technologies. The European bloc announced last month it was imposing import duties of up to 35% on electric vehicles from China, alleging the Chinese exports were unfairly undercutting EU industry prices. The duties are set to remain in force for five years, unless an amicable deal can be struck. Electric vehicles have become a major flashpoint in a broader trade dispute over the influence of Chinese government subsidies on European markets and Beijing's burgeoning exports of green technology to the bloc. China alleged that the EU move amounted to an abuse of trade remedies that violates WTO rules, and amount

WTO accepts India request to defer ICT import duty dispute ruling until Apr

The WTO's dispute settlement body on Monday again accepted a request from India and Chinese Taipei not to adopt the ruling against New Delhi's import duties on certain information and technology products till April next year, as both sides are engaged in resolving the matter mutually, an official said. The issue came up during a meeting of the dispute settlement body (DSB) in Geneva. "The DSB agreed to the latest requests from Chinese Taipei and India," the Geneva-based official said. At the October 28 meeting, India and Chinese Taipei once again requested additional time from the DSB to consider the adoption of the panel rulings in the case initiated by Chinese Taipei regarding India's tariffs on certain high-tech goods. The two sides had requested that the DSB further delay consideration of the panel reports until October 28, 2024, to help facilitate the resolution of the disputes. "The parties asked that the DSB further delay consideration of the panel report until 25 April 202

India not in favour of facilitator-led process in WTO on agriculture issues

India on Monday expressed reservations over the facilitator-led process in the World Trade Organisation to discuss issues on agriculture, saying that it would potentially undermine ministerial mandates and take negotiations backwards, an official said. The issue came up during a meeting of Heads of Delegation (HoDs) dedicated to agriculture in Geneva at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The official said that India has stressed on the urgency to address mandated matters like public stockholding (PSH), special safeguard mechanism (SSM), and cotton issues in dedicated sessions, separate from broader agriculture negotiations. "India noted that the facilitator-led process would potentially undermine Ministerial mandates and it would take negotiations backwards. It also raised concerns about transparency, neutrality, and inclusive discussion in the facilitator model and warned against creating new pillars, as it would complicate negotiations further," the Geneva-based official said. I

WTO slightly raises 2024 goods trade forecast but wary of possible setbacks

The World Trade Organisation raised its outlook for global goods trade this year slightly, but cautioned Thursday that increasing geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over economy policy pose substantial risks to its forecast. The Geneva-based WTO projected that global goods trade will increase by 2.7 per cent this year, compared with the 2.6 per cent it forecast in April. But it predicted growth of 3 per cent next year, down from the 3.3 per cent it forecast previously. Last year, the volume of world merchandise trade was down 1.1 per cent, pushed lower by high inflation and rising interest rates. The global trade body cautioned that rising geopolitical tensions and increased economic policy uncertainty continue to pose substantial downside risks to the forecast. Still, it pointed to a 2.3 per cent year-on-year increase in global merchandise trade in this year's first six months and noted that inflation had fallen far enough by mid-year for central banks to start cutting interest

Export bans to subsidies: WTO nations inquire about India's agri policies

Nations including the US, UK, Japan, and Canada have sought answers from India about its continued export bans and other agricultural policies at the World Trade Organization (WTO)

WTO accepts India's request to delay import duty dispute ruling till Oct

The WTO's dispute settlement body has accepted a request from India and Chinese Taipei not to adopt the ruling against New Delhi's import duties on certain information and technology products till October-end, as both sides are engaged in resolving the matter mutually, an official said. The issue came up during a meeting of the dispute settlement body (DSB) in Geneva on July 26. "The DSB agreed to the latest requests from Chinese Taipei and India," the Geneva-based official said. At the July 26 meeting, India and Chinese Taipei once again requested additional time from the DSB to consider the adoption of the panel rulings in the case initiated by Chinese Taipei regarding India's tariffs on certain high-tech goods. The two sides had asked that the DSB further delay consideration of the panel reports until October 28, 2024, to help facilitate the resolution of the disputes. The dispute body had earlier agreed to four previous such requests from India and Chinese Taipei to delay ...

India flags high trade deficit in policy review meet of China in WTO

India has flagged its concerns over high trade deficit and non-transparent subsidies of China in a meeting at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Geneva, stating those measures impact domestic industry, an official said. Participating at the WTO's trade policy review meeting of China this week, India hoped that China will support issues concerning the Global South. The Geneva-based trade official said India noted that its bilateral trade with China records the biggest trade deficit. New Delhi has expressed concerns over the size of this deficit, and the non-transparent subsidies and mechanisms of China that leads to low prices, hurting local industry, the official added. India's exports to China in 2023-24 stopped at USD 16.65 billion, while imports aggregated at USD 101.75 billion, leaving a trade deficit of over USD 85 billion. China has emerged as the largest trading partner of India with USD 118.4 billion two-way commerce in 2023-24, slightly edging past the US. In the meetin

Fishing groups demand to keep fisheries' subsidy negotiations out of WTO

Ahead of the General Council meeting in Geneva, small-scale fisher groups from many countries, including India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, have demanded that the WTO should not negotiate fisheries subsidies as the ongoing talks are 'unfair and unbalanced'. Members of the Geneva-based 166-member World Trade Organisation (WTO) after finalising a deal on curbing harmful subsidies on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, are now discussing ways to curb these support measures that are contributing to overcapacity and overfishing (OCOF). The General Council is the second highest decision-making body of the WTO after the ministerial conference (MC), which meets after every two years. The World Forum of Fisher Peoples and the World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fish Workers have raised concerns over the current text and said that exemptions for small-scale fishers across developing countries are being restricted by imposing irrational conditionalities. "We, therefore, demand that ...