🌍 Resilience & Reform: India-US Trade Talks Renew Hope Amid WTO Reform Push

India-US Trade Deal Breakthrough Near: 4 Key Global Trade Shifts

The week of November 8-15, 2025, in Global Trade was dominated by the theme of resilience—how nations are adapting to the post-pandemic, high-tariff environment—and reform—spearheaded by India’s renewed diplomatic push. While the global outlook confirms a worrying surge in protectionism, India is actively positioning itself as a leader in multilateral trade reform and pursuing high-stakes bilateral deals, offering a crucial lifeline to exporters on platforms like The Exporter Hub.

1. Us India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) Hopes Reignite

After weeks of friction stemming from the punitive 50% US tariffs on Indian goods (due to the Russia crude oil issue) and reciprocal measures, a significant signal of renewed hope emerged this week.

• High-Level Confidence: NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam publicly expressed confidence that “some positive news” on the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) will be announced by the end of November.

• The “Reset” Effort: He acknowledged that the relationship has been “difficult,” suggesting that a diplomatic “reset is being tried.” This statement, along with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s remarks that talks are “progressing steadily” despite “many sensitive and serious issues,” signals that both nations are actively working to resolve the tariff crisis.

• The Core Attraction: Subrahmanyam stressed that the fundamental attractiveness of India—highlighted by American companies opening global capability centers—will “trump everything else,” ensuring that the deep economic relationship will endure and push the deal forward.

• Impact for Exporters: A breakthrough on the BTA, even a temporary one, could provide immediate relief from the steep 50% tariffs currently crippling key Indian export sectors like smartphones, gems, and textiles. For the Shiv’s Assets Group, which is involved in exports, resolving this tariff hurdle is crucial for long-term US market access.

2. 🌍 UNCTAD Global Trade Update: The Green Trade Boom

The UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released its Global Trade Update for November 2025, highlighting a stark trend that mandates a strategic shift for exporters.

• Trade as a Climate Catalyst: The report focuses on the role of trade policy as a strategic driver of climate action. It found that the trade in solar and wind technologies and their components is growing much faster than other industrial goods.

• Environmental Goods Surge: Exports of “environmentally preferable goods,” such as biodiversity-based products and non-plastic substitutes, have reached trillions of dollars, showing a structural shift in global demand.

• India’s Opportunity: This trend is a massive opportunity for India, especially for industries with a focus on sustainability and green building materials. For a manufacturer of AAC Fly Ash Blocks, this global demand for environmental goods validates the long-term potential of the sector. Trade policy reforms are accelerating this growth by lowering costs and expanding access to these clean technologies.

3. ⚖️ WTO Reform Push: India Urged to Lead

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, visited India and delivered a strong message, urging the nation to take a leading role in reforming the multilateral trading body.

• Call for Leadership: Speaking at the CII Partnership Summit 2025, the WTO chief stressed that the global trading system must remain “rules-based” and that India is “well-placed to benefit” and should be a “leader in the reform process.”

• The New Opportunities: She noted that the world is in a period of “greatest disruption in eight decades,” but India sits in the middle of emerging opportunities, specifically mentioning:

  • Services Trade (Digitally Delivered Services)

  • “Re-globalisation” and Supply Chain Diversification

  • Green Trade

• Trade Resilience: The DG pointed out that despite the disruption from unilateral tariffs (which have raised the US weighted average tariffs from 2.5% to about 17%), a remarkable 72% of world trade is still taking place on WTO terms, underscoring the system’s resilience.

4. 🚢 US-China Port Fee Truce Implemented

A small but critical piece of logistics news impacting global trade was the formal implementation of a trade truce detail agreed upon last week:

• Port Fees Suspended: On November 10, 2025, the United States and China officially implemented a one-year suspension of their respective reciprocal port service fees on vessels. This provides welcome relief to shipping lines, reducing the operational costs associated with container movement between the two giants and offering a minor, positive impact on global shipping costs.

Source : WTO chief urges India to lead global trade reforms.