New Delhi: India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called on the Global South to speak with one voice to address growing uncertainty, inequality and distrust in the global trading system, warning that the rules-based order is under pressure from unilateral measures and protectionist barriers.
Speaking at the 16th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva on Wednesday, Goyal said the world was experiencing an “era of profound trust deficit” across multilateral institutions, international bodies and even nations. Tariff and non-tariff barriers, non-market practices and overly concentrated supply chains eroded confidence in the global trading system, he added.
“A lot of non-market practices come into play… There is an over-concentration of supply chains, both at the source and sometimes at the demand side. There is also a dilution of the special and differential treatment that was given when the WTO was originally established,” he said.
Unilateral restrictions on technology and services by various countries “are open for all to see,” Goyal said, adding that developing countries are hit hardest by these challenges.
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In August, US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods due to New Delhi’s oil imports from Russia. This follows an earlier 25% “reciprocal tariff” announced in April as part of a broader push by Washington to reduce trade imbalances.
The higher tariff has hurt India’s export sector, particularly labour-intensive industries such as textiles, leather, gems and jewellery. The impact was evident in September, the first full month under the new tariff regime, when India’s merchandise exports to the US fell 11.9% year-on-year to $6.02 billion from $6.41 billion in August.
The US has also tightened visa rules, increased the one-time application fee for H-1B visas from $1,000 to $100,000, and sowed chaos in India’s IT services sector, among other things.
The US is India’s single largest export market, accounting for about 2% of GDP.
“The developed world has not done its part”
During his speech, Goyal also criticized developed countries for not living up to the climate finance commitments they made in the 2015 Paris Agreement, noting that the promised $100 billion a year in low-cost or grant funding has yet to materialize.
“I think that despite several promises made in Paris at Cop 21, the developed countries have not yet lived up to their end of the bargain,” he said.
“We still need to see technology coming from the developed world to help less developed countries fight climate change,” he added.
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He also pointed to what he called a “dilution of special and differential treatment” for developing countries within the World Trade Organization and warned that unilateral environmental and digital restrictions were further dividing the world.
Highlighting India’s growth model as a template for inclusive development, Goyal said the country has lifted 250 million people out of poverty in the last 12 years and is now among the world’s top five economies.
On sustainability, Goyal highlighted India’s leadership in the International Solar Alliance, the Global Biofuels Alliance and the Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Coalition, saying that half of India’s current energy capacity of 250 GW comes from renewable sources, which it wants to double by 2030.
Although India is home to 17% of the world’s population, it contributes only 3.5% to 4% of global emissions, he said, urging developed economies to “live up to their end of the bargain”.
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