India has called for trade measures against goods made using forced labour to be backed by specific and verifiable evidence. It also cautioned against imposing restrictions based on assumptions about entire countries, regions or sectors, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday (local time) at the G20 Trade Ministers’ Meeting in Milwaukee, US.

“Measures at the border must be based on specific and verifiable evidence rather than presumptions about entire countries, regions or sectors,” Goyal said.

Reaffirming India’s commitment to eliminating forced labour, Goyal said the commitment was “absolute and unconditional”. However, he said that any trade measures should follow due process and comply with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

India supports voluntary exchanges of good practices among G20 members to tackle forced labour in global supply chains, he said. However, such cooperation should not amount to monitoring member countries, create new obligations or allow shared information to be used for unilateral trade action.

Goyal said Article 23 of the Indian Constitution prohibits forced labour as a fundamental right enforceable by the Supreme Court. India has also ratified International Labour Organisation Conventions 29 and 105.

He added that India amended its Foreign Trade Policy in July 2026 to prohibit imports of goods produced using forced labour.

India flags concerns over trade-distorting subsidies

On structural excess capacity and production, Goyal said India did not have structural excess capacity in the sectors identified by the G20 presidency. He pointed to India’s domestic-demand-driven economy and said its manufacturing capacity serves both domestic and global markets.

Goyal added that trade distortions could emerge when production becomes geographically concentrated because of hidden subsidies and other forms of government support.

India shares concerns that trade-distorting support in some economies can lead to dumping and predatory pricing, Goyal said. Such concerns, he added, should be addressed through measures consistent with WTO rules, including anti-dumping and countervailing duties. These measures should be based on evidence and remain subject to judicial review.

Goyal said "diversification of production and supply chains" was a legitimate objective, but cautioned against using it as a reason to introduce measures outside WTO rules.

He also said such efforts should not shift the burden of adjustment to developing countries, which need sufficient policy space to industrialise. The sharing of statistics and data, he added, should continue through existing mechanisms.

Goyal calls for protecting WTO principles

On the most-favoured-nation (MFN) principle, Goyal said India’s trade with G20 members depended on a "transparent, non-discriminatory and rules-based trading system".

He described MFN treatment as an important guarantee of that system because it ensures the same terms apply to both the smallest and largest traders.

Goyal also said that consensus remained central to the WTO. He called for preserving special and differential treatment for developing countries to help them catch up with developed economies. He further called for the "restoration of the two-tier dispute settlement system".

Reaffirming India’s support for a rules-based, fair, equitable, transparent, open and inclusive multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, Goyal said developing countries needed enough policy space to grow and meet the needs of their populations.

He also extended India’s support to the United Kingdom for its G20 presidency in 2027.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Goyal held discussions with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the India-US trade deal. Greer said he did not think there was "something imminent" on the trade deal, adding that the two sides had identified "the universe of items" that remain sticking points in the negotiations.