India protecting industry from unfair trade practices of certain countries: Piyush Goyal

• Goyal said countries including India, the US, EU and UK safeguard domestic industries when faced with overcapacity, dumping and predatory pricing.

• He said the WTO remains less effective today, so trade frictions are often handled bilaterally.

• Goyal said India is working from a position of strength and will continue to use dialogue and cooperation to address trade challenges.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that countries safeguard their domestic industries, and India is no exception, but the country remains committed to navigating trade challenges through dialogue, cooperation, and mutually beneficial engagement.

"when the EU, the US, and the UK are trying to safeguard their domestic steel industry against competition, or even India for that matter, protecting our economy from unfair trading practices of certain geographies, where we find overcapacity, dumping of goods into India at predatory pricing.

"These are the realities of life you have to confront. Usually in these situations you try to find ways to mitigate it, you ignore some, you take action against some countries," Goyal said at the annual meeting of India Global Innovation Connect here.

He said that while certain countries have introduced measures to protect specific domestic industries, global trade continues to operate largely within a rules-based framework.

He acknowledged that countries often adopt different approaches depending on their domestic interests, but stated that India remains committed to navigating such challenges through dialogue, cooperation, and mutually beneficial engagement.

"Unfortunately, the WTO as a forum is not very effective right now, so action has to be almost bilateral....But overall, world trade, at the aggregate level, is very much rule-based, still under the WTO framework. There will be some aberrations," he said, adding that some countries have different standards for different sets of products.

But, India today works from a position of strength, he added.

On India's EFTA free trade agreement, he said India is currently in the second year of implementing the agreement, and active discussions are underway regarding investments under the framework.

On promoting innovation and research, Goyal acknowledged that India must invest more deeply in building an innovation culture.

He said the Government is actively engaging with companies and countries to identify sectors where innovation-led investments can be encouraged.

He emphasized that while incentives have a role to play, creating a supportive ecosystem is equally important for attracting research and development activities.

"We are continuously looking at IPR (intellectual property rights) laws to make it contemporary," he added.