ShriPiyush Goyal spoke on excess capacity, MFN reform and forced labour at the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Milwaukee.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal participated in the concluding day of the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, speaking in 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, Shri Goyal said India was the fastest-growing large economy in the world, with a domestic-demand-driven economy serving 1.4 billion people, and was building manufacturing value chains from design to finished goods as a trusted link in global supply chains. He said India’s manufacturing capacity served both domestic and global needs and that, in the sectors identified by the G20 Presidency, India did not have structural excess capacity. He said India shared concerns raised by other members that trade-distorting support in some economies could lead to dumping and predatory pricing, adding that such concerns were addressed through WTO-consistent measures, including anti-dumping and countervailing duties, based on evidence and subject to judicial review. He said industrial capacity itself was not the issue, though distortions could arise where geographical concentration of production was driven by hidden subsidies and support, and that while diversification of production and supply chains was a legitimate objective, it could not be used as a pretext for measures outside WTO rules or for shifting the burden of adjustment onto developing countries, which must retain policy space to industrialise. He also said that sharing of statistics and data should take place within existing mechanisms.
On updating the MFN principle, Shri Goyal said India’s trade with G20 members depended on a transparent, non-discriminatory and rules-based trading system, with MFN treatment serving as a key guarantee that ensures the same terms apply to the smallest and largest traders alike. He said consensus remained central to the WTO and that special and differential treatment must be preserved to help developing countries catch up with developed economies, while also calling for restoration of the two-tier dispute settlement system.
On ending forced labour in global supply chains, Shri Goyal said India’s commitment to its elimination was absolute and unconditional, noting that Article 23 of the Constitution prohibits forced labour as a fundamental right enforceable by the Supreme Court. He said India had ratified ILO Conventions 29 and 105 and, in July 2026, had amended its Foreign Trade Policy to prohibit the import of goods produced using forced labour. He said border measures must be based on specific and verifiable evidence rather than presumptions about entire countries, regions or sectors, and must respect due process and WTO rules, adding that the International Labour Organization was the competent, universal and tripartite body for labour standards. He said India supported the objective of eliminating forced labour and the voluntary exchange of good practices among G20 members, provided such cooperation did not involve monitoring of members, create new obligations, or result in information being used as a basis for unilateral trade action.
Shri Goyal thanked Ambassador Greer and the United States G20 Presidency for the arrangements and hospitality extended in Milwaukee. Recalling Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s words that issues which cannot be resolved together should not come in the way of those that can, he said India had participated in the meeting in that spirit, sharing its concerns and offering constructive inputs across all four themes. He 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, and stressed the importance of preserving policy space for developing countries while upholding decision-making by consensus. Shri Goyal extended India’s full support to the United Kingdom for its G20 Presidency in 2027.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Shri Goyal held bilateral meetings with the Minister for Trade and Tourism of Australia, the Minister of Commerce of Saudi Arabia, the Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness of France, the Minister for Trade of the Republic of Korea, and the Minister of International Trade of Canada.
Source: Press Information Bureau
