Piyush Goyal Represents India As G20 Trade Talks Open In US
MILWAUKEE, WI- Trade ministers from the world’s major economies began two days of talks in Milwaukee, with India represented by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, as the United States pushed for coordinated action against global steel overcapacity and changes to some rules governing international trade.
The G20 Trade Ministerial, hosted by US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, opened on Wednesday, September 30, against the backdrop of tariff tensions, concerns over excess industrial capacity and growing differences among major economies over the future of the global trading system.
The Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity agreed on a new framework for coordinated action against excess steel production.
Greer said the “Milwaukee Framework” would seek stronger coordinated action against excess capacity. The framework includes measures covering trade remedies, monitoring steel supply chains and greater scrutiny of transshipment.
On whether countries had agreed to increase tariffs on Chinese steel, Greer said individual governments would decide their own course.
“Well, every country will do what they think is appropriate,” Greer said. “We want to coordinate those measures. The United States has taken robust measures, and it probably makes sense for other countries to do that too.”
The steel issue is part of a broader US agenda for the ministerial that includes eliminating forced labor from global supply chains, updating the Most-Favored-Nation principle, opposing the weaponization of trade in food and addressing structural excess capacity and production.
Goyal is representing India at the ministerial and is also holding bilateral meetings with counterparts on its sidelines, as New Delhi and Washington seek to advance negotiations for an India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement and finalize an interim trade deal.
India has said it will work toward “a rules-based, open, inclusive, transparent, equitable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organization at its core, while ensuring adequate policy space for developing countries.”
The position is significant as the United States has put updating the Most-Favored-Nation principle, one of the foundations of the WTO trading system, on the Milwaukee agenda.
Before the formal ministerial discussions, Goyal met CEOs and senior executives of American manufacturing and technology companies at a roundtable organized by the National Association of Manufacturers.
He invited American manufacturers to deepen their presence in India, work with Indian small and medium enterprises and explore co-investments in advanced manufacturing and resilient supply chains.
The G20 ministers also visited Rockwell Automation in Milwaukee on September 30, part of an effort by the Trump administration to put American manufacturing at the center of the gathering.
The G20 brings together the world’s major developed and emerging economies and is an important forum for addressing tensions over trade, industrial policy and supply chains. This week’s meeting precedes the G20 leaders’ summit that the United States will host later this year. (IANS)
