India watches as Trump engages with East Asian leaders

Last week, our government took some measures to facilitate trade for importers and exporters.

- TNC RAJAGOPALAN

Their attention, however, was more on the outcome of US President Donald Trump's visit to Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) announced the launch of Bharat Aayat Niryat Lab Setu, an initiative that seeks to streamline testing and certification by digitally connecting importers, exporters and accredited testing and inspection agencies through a unified online interface.

The DGFT revised the eligibility criteria for registration of exporters on the ‘source from India’ service of the ‘trade connect e-platform’. The finance ministry merged 31 Customs exemption notifications into a single notification no.45/2025-Cus dated October 24, 2025. These and some other small measures conveyed the government's intent to be helpful but got very little notice because, through last week, the outcomes of President Trump's talks with leaders of many Asian countries were of greater interest.