With China's entry into the WTO, India is likely to make strong gains in food grains and light manufacturing and modest growth in several other sectors but is likely to lose export shares in markets such as the US and EU especially in textiles.
Despite the noise that India is making at the WTO saying that its food security concerns are non-negotiable, back home it is aggressively pushing for dismantling minimum support prices and at the same time limiting the sovereign role of Food Corporation of India in food distribution to the hungry and the needy, says Devinder Sharma.
India has been opposing the pact as ITA will only benefit the country when its domestic manufacturing is robust.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Monday denied that the ministry was unhappy with the WTO Framework Agreement.
The protesting farmers have been staying put at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana after their "Delhi Chalo" march was stopped by the security forces.
A day before the informal meeting of the WTO, India, China and South Africa on Friday said the developing countries are being asked to further open their markets without any reciprocity from the rich nations, as per the draft proposals for a multilateral agreement.
India's efforts to include services in the proposed Framework on Agriculture and Non-agriculture Market Access have received a shot in the arm with the European Union showing willingness to extend its support.
The government will convene a meeting of political parties prior to the WTO ministerial in Cancun to elicit their views on issues, especially agriculture subsidy, to be discussed at the conference, Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
Releasing its grim forecast for the current year, WTO economists warned about several downside risks as well as rising inflationary pressures because of the increase in commodity prices and lax monetary conditions. "The continued turmoil in financial markets and the downside risks, including inflationary tendencies, are a cause for concern," said Patrick Low, chief economist, WTO.
With the Bali deal settled, countries should now focus on long pending issues such as market access and reduction in green goods tariff
India may drag US to the World Trade Organisation for its new "protectionist" move in hiking professional visa fees, a step that will make Indian IT companies less competitive in the American market.
Not the one to give up hope, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy is visiting India next week to find ways for picking up the threads from last month's failed trade talks in Geneva.
The European Union on Wednesday said there would not be any dialogue with India on the World Trade Organisation issues when their political heads meet at the India-EU summit this weekend, even though trade issues will figure in the summit.
According to the Morcha, the demands which Delhi Chalo has been called include: MSP should be guaranteed as per C2+50 percent formula and, as promised, a law should be made to guarantee it; all the farmers should be made debt free, and all agricultural loan must be waived.
In a major trade victory for India and several other countries, the World Trade Organisation has held as violation of global trade rules a controversial USlaw allowing American companies to collect more than $470 million
The US must make substantial cuts in farm subsidies and scale down demands for tariff reductions by developing countries to enable the stalled WTO talks to move forward, India's top trade negotiator said on Thursday.
India's exports declined by 2.83 per cent to $33.90 billion in November this year compared to $34.89 billion a year ago, government data released on Friday showed. Imports also declined to $54.48 billion in the month under consideration, as against $56.95 billion recorded in November 2022.
The report was jointly prepared by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Trade Organisation.
A last-ditch attempt to rescue the Doha round of world trade talks is likely to be made towards the end of July at a Geneva meeting of 30 trade ministers from among the 150-member countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The government claims to have secured significant gains and succeeded in fully protecting India's interests in agriculture and other key areas.
Talking tough, India on Friday threatened to drag the European Union to the World Trade Organization if the 28-nation bloc did not lift its ban on the import of Indian mangoes and vegetables.
The California walnuts shipped from the US to India have seen a sharp uptick with imports more than doubling from September to November against the same period last year. This comes after New Delhi removed its retaliatory customs tariffs on the key dry fruit. Two days ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to New Delhi to attend the G20 Summit on September 9-10, India dropped additional customs duties on about half a dozen US goods that were imposed in 2019 in response to America raising tariffs on certain steel and aluminum products coming from India.
GVK Biosciences is the latest Indian firm to come under international scrutiny over quality issues.
Of the three options on the table, India was likely to agree for a coefficient of 22, which would have required it to reduce tariff on industrial products by about 60 per cent. Under this proposal, India would have been able to shield its products to the extent of 10 per cent.
The top Obama Administration official said the US will negotiate agreements that commit its trading partners to protecting American intellectual property, such as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
It is learnt that the US had recently presented two separate papers to India.
The BRICS nations on Friday underlined the need for using local currencies in international trade and financial transactions besides committing themselves to supporting rule-based open and transparent global trade. A joint statement issued at the end of the meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, also pressed for a robust Global Financial Safety Net with a quota-based and adequately resourced International Monetary Fund (IMF) at its centre. It further said the process of IMF governance reform under the 16th General Review of Quotas, including a new quota formula as a guide, should be completed by December 15, 2023.
Services have now become an offensive area for many developing countries like India and that is good news.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said India will not "rush to" the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the "regressive" steps taken by the US recently, which include an increase in the visa fee and a special levy on foreign manufacturers.
The proposal, which comes in response to the EU-US formula made on the sidelines of the OECD meeting in Paris recently, emphasises on differentiated tariff cuts for developing countries.
Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley will lead the Indian delegation to the World Trade Organisation mini- ministerial at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Cairo, beginning June 20.\n\n\n\n
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances