New Delhi: India’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has called on the Global South to speak with one voice to address rising uncertainty, inequality and distrust in the global trading system, warning that the rules-based order was under strain 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 over-concentrated supply chains were eroding confidence in the global trading system, he added.
“A lot of non-market practices are coming into play… There’s an over-concentration of supply chains, both at the source and at times on the demand side. Also, there’s a dilution of the special and differential treatment that was provided when the WTO was originally set up,” he said.
Various countries’ unilateral restrictions on technology and services “are all out there in the open for all of us to see”, Goyal said, adding that these challenges hit developing nations the hardest.
In August, US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, owing to New Delhi’s oil imports from Russia. This followed an earlier 25% ‘reciprocal tariff’ announced in April as part of Washington’s broader push to curb trade imbalances.
The higher duty 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 goods exports to the US fell 11.9% year-on-year to $6.02 billion, and from $6.41 billion in August.
The US has also tightened visa rules, hiking the one-time fee for H-1B visa applications from $1,000 to $100,000 and sowing chaos in India’s IT services sector, among others.
The US is India’s largest single export market, accounting for about 2% of GDP.
‘Developed world hasn’t done its bit’
During his address, Goyal also criticised developed countries for failing to deliver on the climate finance commitments they made at the 2015 Paris Agreement, noting that the promised $100 billion a year in low-cost or grant-based funding was yet to materialise.
“I do think, despite several promises made at Paris at Cop 21, the developed countries have not yet fulfilled their end of the bargain,” he said.
“We still have to see technologies coming from the developed world to help less developed countries in their fight against climate change,” he added.
He also pointed to what he called a “dilution of special and differential treatment” for developing nations under the World Trade Organization framework, and cautioned that unilateral environmental and digital restrictions were dividing the world further.
Underscoring India’s growth model as a template for inclusive development, Goyal said the country had lifted 250 million people out of poverty in the past 12 years and was now among the world’s top five economies.
On sustainability, Goyal highlighted India’s leadership in the International Solar Alliance, Global Biofuel Alliance, and Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, saying half of India’s current 250 GW power capacity comes from renewable sources, which it aims to double by 2030.
Though home to 17% of the world’s population, India contributes only 3.5% to 4% of global emissions, he said, calling on developed economies to “fulfil their end of the bargain”.
