Overview

• At a Paris mini-ministerial of about 25 WTO members, Piyush Goyal urged restoration of the WTO’s two-tier dispute settlement system and action against non-tariff barriers and distortions by non-market economies.
• India rejected the China-sponsored Investment Facilitation for Development pact, warning that extending the WTO’s mandate beyond core trade issues would fragment consensus among members.
• WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala joined the informal talks and called for focus on previously mandated reforms ahead of the 14th ministerial conference in Cameroon next March.
• In April, the United States imposed a 26% security tariff on a broad range of Indian exports, prompting New Delhi to file a WTO complaint and pursue comprehensive bilateral trade negotiations.
• The OECD’s June Economic Outlook projects 2.9% global growth in 2025 and cautions that rising protectionism could stoke inflation and deter investment, while forecasting India’s economy to grow over 6% in fiscal 2026 and 2027.