India joins 14 economies to push global action on excess industrial capacity

India and 13 other countries have called for coordinated global action to curb excess industrial production, saying it distorts markets, hurts domestic industries and adds to an imbalance between supply and demand.

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the countries said all economies should act to remove structural excess capacity and production. The statement came after a meeting held on the sidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Trade Committee deliberations in Washington.

"We call on all countries to take steps to eliminate structural excess capacity and production in their economies, including by ending the use of non-market policies and practices that distort markets and contribute to the problem," the joint statement said.

Building on discussions at the G20 Trade Ministerial in Milwaukee, the economies joined the US in signing a Joint Ministerial Statement to work together through new, dedicated sectoral platforms to examine and take effective action against structural excess capacity and production in several key sectors of concern, the Office of the US Trade Representative said.

The signatories are the trade ministers of Argentina, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Poland, Turkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States. G20 members China, Brazil, Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa did not sign the joint statement. The G20 trade ministerial in Milwaukee had failed to reach a consensus on issues related to forced labour and excess industrial capacity.

"Over the course of the US G20 presidency, numerous economies raised instances of structural excess capacity and production in economies that persistently exceeded global demand and were sustained by foreign governments' non-market policies and practices," USTR Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

"Left unchecked, these issues will continue to cripple domestic industries, displace local production, and hinder our ability to raise the standard of living for workers and their families," he said. Greer added that the Trump Administration would continue to engage with US trading partners to defend its domestic industries, workers and economy from distortions resulting from such policies and practices.

In all, the statement marked a joint push by India and the other signatories to address excess industrial capacity through coordinated action, while also underlining differences within the G20 on the issue.

With PTI Inputs

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