World Trade Organization

March 31, 2026 9:41 AM

US vows to seek WTO alternatives after Cameroon meeting fails to renew e-commerce moratorium

World Trade Organization countries failed to agree on a reform path or even a routine extension of an e-commerce duty moratorium, prompting a fresh vow from the U.S. to seek alternative deals with like-minded countries and relegate the body to only a limited role in global trade policy. Four days of talks among trade ministers in Cameroon's capital Yaounde broke up in the early hours of Monday with Brazil and Turkey blocking a bid to extend the WTO's e-commerce moratorium, including on digital ...

March 30, 2026 10:13 AM

WTO talks end in deadlock after Brazil blocks deal on e-commerce duties

World Trade Organization talks ended deadlocked early on Monday as Brazil blocked a bid by the U.S. and other countries to extend a moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions, dealing a fresh blow to the embattled trade body. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the e-commerce moratorium had expired, meaning countries could apply duties on electronic goods such as digital downloads and streaming. But she said the WTO hoped to be able to restore the moratorium and that Br...

March 30, 2026 9:44 AM

Piyush Goyal flags concerns over industrial fishing subsidies at WTO, backs small fishers

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday highlighted that the global challenge of overcapacity and overfishing is primarily driven by heavily subsidised industrial fleets, and not by small-scale fishermen in India and other developing nations, during deliberations at the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference (MC-14). Addressing discussions on fisheries subsidies - one of the key agenda items at the four-day conference held from March 26 to 29 - Goyal underlined the ...

March 30, 2026 1:53 PM

Piyush Goyal holds key bilateral meetings at WTO Ministerial Conference, pushes trade agreements and global cooperation

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday held a series of high-level bilateral meetings with counterparts from Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the European Union on the sidelines of the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (MC-14), focusing on accelerating trade agreements and strengthening economic partnerships. During his meeting with Canada’s International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, both sides discussed expediting negotiations for t...

March 27, 2026 11:12 AM

Piyush Goyal leads Indian delegation at WTO Ministerial Conference in Cameroon, calls for inclusive reforms

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal led the Indian delegation at the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Thursday in Yaounde, Cameroon. The two-day conference opened with a ceremonial session chaired by Cameroon’s Trade Minister and attended by WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, along with trade ministers and senior representatives from member countries. India was represented at the opening session by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal. Du...

February 13, 2026 10:15 PM

WTO chief calls for reform of global trading system

The head of the World Trade Organization said that she agreed with U.S. calls for reform of the global trading system ahead of a major meeting of the trade watchdog in Cameroon next month. Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs ranging from 10% to 41% on U.S. imports from dozens of countries and foreign locations. The U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule on their legality. "We may not like the action (U.S. tariffs), but we must take the signal that we need to...

October 7, 2025 10:44 PM

WTO downgrades global trade growth forecast to 0.5% for next year

The World Trade Organization sharply lowered its 2026 forecast for global merchandise trade volume growth to 0.5% on Tuesday, citing expected delayed impacts from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. It marks a significant revision down from its previous estimate in August of 1.8% growth. "The outlook for next year is bleaker ... I am very concerned," Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told reporters in Geneva. WORLD TRADING SYSTEM SHOWING RESILIENCE However, she said the world trading s...

September 4, 2025 11:02 AM

White House drops World Trade Organization from list of funding cuts

The White House has quietly dropped the World Trade Organization from a list of $4.9 billion in foreign aid cuts announced last Friday after the move sparked concern among lawmakers, trade groups and the head of the global trade body. Democratic lawmakers argued that the administration's unilateral cuts were illegal since Congress had authorised the funding, while trade groups contended that reducing funds for the WTO would allow China to gain influence. WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweal...

September 2, 2025 7:43 PM

Tariffs cause ‘unprecedented’ disruption to global trade rules, WTO chief says

The share of global trade done on WTO terms has fallen to 72% and could fall further, amid the biggest disruption to the international trading system in the past 80 years, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization said on Tuesday. Since U.S. President Donald Trump started imposing higher import tariffs this year on most of the United States' trading partners, the share of global trade conducted under the WTO's 'most favoured nation' (MFN) terms is down from about 80%, WTO data shows....

February 6, 2025 12:41 PM

China challenges Trump tariffs at WTO, package shippers warn of chaos

China filed a World Trade Organization complaint on Wednesday against U.S. President Donald Trump's new 10% tariff on Chinese imports and his cancellation of a duty-free exemption for low-value packages, arguing the actions are "protectionist" and break WTO rules. Beijing's request for U.S. trade consultations came as confusion reigned among shippers and retailers over Trump's closure of the "de minimis" exemption for package imports valued under $800 and widely used by e-commerce firms includi...