New Delhi, 02 October (H.S.): Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal reaffirmed India’s commitment to eliminating forced labour and advocated evidence-based trade measures at the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Goyal participated in the concluding day of the meeting and spoke during sessions on structural excess capacity and production, updating the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle, ending forced labour in global supply chains and the closing session.
Speaking on structural excess capacity and production, Goyal said that the manufacturing capacity in the sectors concerning which questions had been raised was intended to meet the vast domestic demand of 1.4 billion people as well as genuine requirements in global markets. He said India did not have structurally excessive manufacturing capacity in the sectors identified by the G20 Presidency.
Goyal emphasised that India’s manufacturing capacity serves both domestic and global requirements. He also said India shares the concern of several G20 members that trade-distorting support in some economies could result in dumping and unfair pricing. He stated that such concerns should be addressed through WTO-compliant measures, including evidence-based anti-dumping and countervailing duties that are subject to judicial review.
On the issue of forced labour in global supply chains, Goyal said India’s commitment to its elimination was “absolute and unconditional”. He noted that Article 23 of the Constitution prohibits forced labour as a fundamental right and that India has ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions 29 and 105. He also pointed out that India amended its Foreign Trade Policy in July 2026 to prohibit the import of goods produced using forced labour.
Goyal further stressed that measures taken at the border should be based on specific and verifiable evidence rather than assumptions concerning entire countries, regions or sectors, while adhering to due process and WTO rules. He said the ILO is the competent, universal and tripartite body for labour standards. India, he added, supports the objective of eliminating forced labour and voluntary exchanges of good practices among G20 members, provided such cooperation does not involve monitoring of members, create new obligations or lead to information being used as the basis for unilateral trade action.
On updating the Most-Favoured-Nation principle, Goyal said India’s trade with G20 members depends on a transparent, non-discriminatory and rules-based trading system. He described MFN treatment as a key guarantee of this system and emphasised that consensus remains central to the World Trade Organization, while special and differential treatment for developing countries must be preserved. He also called for the restoration of the WTO’s two-tier dispute settlement system.
Goyal reaffirmed India’s commitment to a rules-based, fair, equitable, non-discriminatory, transparent, open, inclusive and multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. He also stressed the importance of preserving policy space for developing countries to pursue growth and food security while maintaining consensus-based decision-making.
The Union Minister extended India’s full support to the United Kingdom for its G20 Presidency in 2027.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Goyal held bilateral meetings with the Minister for Trade and Tourism of Australia, the Minister of Commerce of Saudi Arabia, France’s Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, the Minister for Trade of the Republic of Korea and Canada’s Minister of International Trade.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
