Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on 2 October 2026 called for addressing global trade distortions exclusively through World Trade Organization (WTO)-consistent mechanisms — including anti-dumping and countervailing duties — while firmly rejecting unilateral measures that could burden developing nations. His remarks came on the concluding day of the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he participated in sessions covering structural excess capacity, the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle, forced labour in supply chains, and the closing plenary.

On Structural Excess Capacity and Supply Chain Diversification

Goyal acknowledged that India shares the concerns of many G20 members that trade-distorting support in some economies can trigger dumping and predatory pricing. However, he was precise in drawing a distinction: industrial capacity in itself is not the problem, he argued — distortions arise specifically when the geographical concentration of production is driven by hidden subsidies and opaque state support.

He cautioned that while diversification of production and supply chains is a legitimate objective, it cannot serve as a pretext for measures that fall outside WTO rules. Crucially, Goyal stressed that the burden of adjustment must not be shifted onto developing countries, which must retain adequate policy space to industrialise. He also noted that statistical data-sharing should occur only within existing multilateral mechanisms.

Defending the Most-Favoured-Nation Principle

On the question of updating the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) principle — a cornerstone of the multilateral trading system — Goyal reaffirmed its centrality. He described MFN treatment as the key guarantee ensuring that the same trade terms apply equally to the smallest and the largest trading partner, safeguarding non-discrimination at the heart of the WTO framework.

He also called for the restoration of the two-tier dispute settlement system, which has been functionally hamstrung since the Appellate Body lost its quorum, leaving many trade disputes in legal limbo. India has consistently advocated for its revival as essential to a functional, rules-based order. Goyal further underscored that consensus remains central to WTO decision-making and that special and differential treatment for developing nations must be preserved to enable them to close the development gap with advanced economies.

India's Stance on Forced Labour in Supply Chains

Addressing the session on eliminating forced labour from global supply chains, Goyal stated that India's commitment to eradicating forced labour is 'absolute and unconditional.' He pointed to Article 23 of the Indian Constitution, which prohibits forced labour as a fundamental right enforceable by the Supreme Court of India.

India has ratified ILO Conventions 29 and 105 on forced labour. Significantly, in July 2026, the government amended its Foreign Trade Policy to explicitly prohibit the import of goods produced using forced labour — a move that aligns domestic trade law with international labour standards.

At the same time, Goyal drew a careful line: border measures targeting forced labour must be grounded in specific and verifiable evidence, not blanket presumptions about entire countries, regions, or sectors, and must respect due process and WTO rules. He identified the International Labour Organization (ILO) as the sole competent, universal, and tripartite body for setting labour standards — signalling India's resistance to any arrangement that would allow bilateral or plurilateral labour compliance to be weaponised as a trade instrument.

India's Core Trade Philosophy

Goyal concluded by reaffirming India's commitment to a rules-based, fair, equitable, non-discriminatory, transparent, open, inclusive and multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. This comes amid a broader global debate over whether the WTO's existing architecture is equipped to handle the strategic trade competition — particularly in clean energy and advanced manufacturing — that increasingly defines relations between major economies.

India's position at Milwaukee signals a careful balancing act: aligning with the West on concerns about distortive subsidies while defending the developmental prerogatives of the Global South — a posture that will shape its engagement as trade tensions head into 2027.