Borderlex usually doesn’t cover US American trade policy, except in the context of bilateral relationships, negotiations, or WTO disputes with the EU. It seems though that EU readers will be particularly interested in reading a transcript of a speech USTR Michael Froman gave in Geneva on Monday (17 October 2016). …
Author: Iana Dreyer
EU Mercosur talks moving slowly ahead in shadow of Brexit
Argentina hopes to finalise revived EU Mercosur free trade negotiations within two years. “In terms of negotiations, we are optimistic, we can move forward on a good path, maybe one or two years”, Argentina’s Commerce Secretary Miguel Braun told reporters last week. Mercosur hopes to move on to a separate agreement …
CETA: the very final countdown
So this morning Paul Magnette, the minister president of Wallonia, has announced he would order the federal government of Belgium not to sign CETA later this month. The federal government is bound by this. So is it over for CETA? At a first glance, yes. Are there any ways …
SME network says FTAs and standard harmonisation key to boost international trade
Eurochambres, a leading EU-wide network of business and SME organizations has released an annual survey on the business confidence of its members it participated in as part of the Global Chamber Platform : trade policy features highly on the priority list of the network’s members. Asked what measures they would favour to counter “trade restrictive …
In brief: Bangladesh mulling FTA with EU
Bangladesh’s textiles industry is pushing for a free trade agreement with the EU. According to local press reports, the country’s Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma said she “is in constant touch with the Ministry of Commerce to pursue and FTA with the EU to boost international trade especially in the textile …
CETA: all eyes on Belgium
Today all eyes are on Belgium as the Wallonian parliament, with a majority of deputies having pronounced themselves against CETA, is to rule today (Fridat 14 October 2016) whether it will bloc signature of the EU Canadian trade deal. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders has warned Wallonians that such …
In brief: EU appeals WTO Airbus subsidy ruling
In an unsurprising move, the Commission has filed an appeal in the WTO against a ruling issued in September it lost on the grounds that EU member states had illegally subsidised the production of A350 and A 380 aircraft models for decades. The ruling came after a compliance assessment …
Trade: the tribulations of the ‘political’ Commission
The ‘political’ Commission launched by president Juncker, touted as a means to revive the European Union’s standing and the bureaucracy’s effectiveness, has led to paralysis as trade has moved centre-stage in the bloc’s perpetual political crisis, Iana Dreyer opines.
German constitutional court greenlights signature and provisional application of CETA
The powerful constitutional court of Germany has rejected a series of NGO requests to have it block the German government from greenlighting the signature of the Canada EU trade agreement CETA scheduled for next week (18 October 2016). It also refused to give an injunction to the German government to refuse provisional …
In brief: Commission not expected to move on data flows in TiSA before end October
Sources close to the matter told Borderlex the Cabinet of Commission president Juncker is withholding tabling a text on data localisation to member states in view of advancing talks on the matter in trade agreements, and in particular the Trade in Services Agreement, in fear this could jeopardise the imminent adoption of …
