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Best of BS Opinion: India must avoid digital tariffs despite WTO rule lapse

From India's digital trade strategy and autonomous AI risks to youth employment, the rupee's stability and the evolution of the Chinese Communist Party, here are today's top Opinion pieces.

Centre shifts export strategy, aims to give state govts bigger role

Plan comes at a time when WTO urged India to address structural challenges

India's digital trade dilemma deepens after WTO duty moratorium lapses

With the WTO moratorium on electronic transmissions having lapsed, India must weigh tariff flexibility against its growing stake in open, predictable digital trade

Quality control orders intended to achieve policy objectives: India at WTO

India's quality control orders (QCOs) are intended to achieve legitimate public policy objectives, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said on Thursday. Speaking at a meeting of the Eighth Trade Policy Review of India at the WTO in Geneva, Agarwal further said that trade remedy investigations are conducted transparently, based on objective evidence, due process and judicial oversight. The remarks come at a time when certain WTO member countries have raised issues about QCOs. India's tariff reforms, customs simplification measures and ambitious Free Trade Agreement (FTA) strategy have steadily strengthened the country's integration with the global economy, Agarwal said. He also said that India is committed to an open, transparent and predictable trade and investment regime. The Trade Policy Review is a key transparency and monitoring mechanism of the WTO under which members' trade and related policies are periodically examined to enhance transparency, strengthen adherence to WTO rule

WTO says India must tackle structural gaps to realise Viksit Bharat by 2047

Trade policy review says India must lower trade costs, bridge infrastructure gaps and deepen global integration to sustain growth and achieve developed-country status by 2047

India aims at 10% share in global merchandise exports by 2047: WTO report

India is aiming to increase its share of global merchandise exports from about 1.8 per cent in 2024 to around 10 per cent by 2047, according to a World Trade Organisation (WTO) report. To promote exports, India maintained various duty exemption, remission, and rebate schemes. Export promotion is also emphasised in the Viksit Bharat vision, intended to help India sustain high long-term growth and boost competitiveness. "Under this vision, India aims to increase its share of global merchandise exports from about 1.8 per cent in 2024 to around 10 per cent by 2047," it said. The eighth review of the trade policies and practices of India takes place on July 21. It will also happen on July 23 in Geneva. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal is there for the meetings. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of India. It also said that India's perspective on WTO reform is that reforms must be development-centred, consensus-based, and ...

India joins WTO fisheries subsidies agreement, becomes 123rd member

India has formally accepted the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, backing sustainable fishing while safeguarding policy space for traditional and small-scale fishers

India joins WTO fisheries subsidies pact to curb illegal fishing support

India on Monday announced that it has joined the WTO's agreement on fisheries subsidies, which prohibits government support to illegal fishing activities and over-exploitation of stocks. The agreement focuses on subsidies related to marine wild capture fishing and fishing-related activities at sea. However, aquaculture and inland fisheries remain outside the scope of this pact, which came into force on September 15, 2025. The agreement was adopted by consensus at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva in June 2022. It is the first multilateral WTO agreement with an environmental sustainability objective. "India deposited its Instrument of Acceptance of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS) on 20th July 2026, thereby becoming a Party to the Agreement," the commerce ministry said in a statement. The formal acceptance was handed over by the Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal to the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in ...

Commerce secy in Geneva for India's trade policy review meeting at WTO

An official delegation headed by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal will participate in India's eighth trade policy review meeting at the WTO, scheduled on July 21 and 23 in Geneva, a government statement said on Monday. The Trade Policy Review (TPR) is an important transparency mechanism under the WTO (World Trade Organization). It entails a comprehensive peer review of a member's trade policies, consisting of a multitude of border and behind-the-border measures, to enhance transparency, predictability and understanding in the WTO. These reviews are conducted by the Trade Policy Review Body, which comprises the entire membership of the WTO. The review is carried out on the basis of two principal documents a policy statement submitted by the member under review (called the Government Report) and a report prepared by the WTO Secretariat, which is circulated to all member countries. All WTO members are subject to review at regular intervals, although at varying frequencies, determin

India should revisit stance on WTO ecom moratorium: Icrier study

ICRIER says India's growing digital exports now outweigh tariff revenue concerns and calls for a more proactive role in shaping global digital trade rules

India raises concerns over UK's steel measures in WTO, says official

India has flagged concerns in a key meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Geneva over the UK's recent steel safeguard measures, an official said. From July 1, 2026, the UK will limit tariff-free steel imports, reducing the overall quota available under the existing safeguard measures by 60 per cent. Any imports above these levels will then face a 50 per cent tariff. The measure will apply to imports of steel products that can also be made in the UK. India, Brazil, Turkiye, Switzerland and Australia have expressed their concerns about the UK's proposed action, a Geneva-based official said. Japan and Korea, which initiated discussions, have also flagged concerns over the issue. Earlier, Britain had safeguard measures that also imposed import quotas. The new measures will reduce that quota. India's exports of iron and steel and their products to the UK stood at USD 893.4 million in 2025-26, accounting for a significant share of the USD 13.4 billion in total merchandise exports

US and 18 WTO members reach consensus on not imposing ecom duties

The US and 17 WTO members launched a separate pact to avoid e-commerce duties after talks failed to extend the WTO's long-standing digital trade moratorium

Is the world going to tariff Big Tech as WTO shifts digital trade rules?

Internet has been tariff-free for decades; if that changes, it's because the world has decided it can't allow the US to run its digital empire forever

Ecommerce tariffs: India open to a longer extension of the moratorium

This will give businesses greater predictability, says Goyal

Cameroon meet shows WTO's relevance: Commerce secy Rajesh Agrawal

A key area where member nations could not agree on was the moratorium on Customs duty on ecommerce

Fractured future: MC14 exposes the limitations of WTO amid deep divisions

The larger takeaway from MC14 is the fragmentation of global trade governance

WTO's MC14 concludes without declaration as countries 'ran out of time'

Ministerial ends without consensus on key issues including e-commerce tariffs and TRIPS, with talks set to continue in Geneva amid deep divisions among members

WTO debates five-year extension of global ban on ecommerce tariffs

India has been resisting a long-term ecommerce duty moratorium citing concerns over revenue loss

West Asia conflict: Anti-dumping duties need a downstream impact test

A surge in DGTR anti-dumping actions may protect producers but risks raising costs for downstream industries, reviving concerns over creeping protectionism

India opposes China-led investment pact's inclusion in WTO framework

India on Saturday said it has strongly opposed the contentious China-led Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement for its incorporation into the WTO framework. Incorporation of the IFD agreement risks eroding the functional limits of the WTO and undermining its foundational principles, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in a social media post. This was stated by India in the ongoing 14th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Yaounde, Cameroon. "At #WTOMC14, drawing inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi ji's philosophy of Truth prevailing over conformity, India showed the courage to stand alone on the contentious issue of the IFD Agreement and did not agree to its incorporation into the WTO framework as an Annex 4 Agreement," he said. Annex 4 of the WTO Agreement contains Plurilateral Trade Agreements that are binding only on the WTO members that have accepted them, unlike the mandatory multilateral agreements. As part of WTO reform