News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala started off her first day in her role as director-general with an energetic speech on what she wanted the World Trade Organization to achieve in 2021. Members agreed today to hold the organization’s next ministerial meeting in the week of 29 November in Geneva.
Dombrovskis sees potential in EU-US supply chain resilience collaboration President Biden this week made headlines by announcing a review of the United States’ supply chains. Strategic dependencies on – namely but not only – China and other supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic have had the US government focus …
The European Union is considering extending its safeguard measures on steel imports beyond the three years mandated by its regulation. The European Commission said it was acting following “a duly substantiated request received from twelve EU member states” – and is now consulting stakeholders. The safeguards were introduced in July …
During her confirmation hearing in the Senate the nominee to become the next United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai offered a general direction of travel for the Biden administration’s trade policy but hardly gave answers on specifics. Katherine Tai said she was pursuing a “worker-centred” trade policy – that also …
The international trade committee debated the EU China Comprehensive Investment Agreement – also known as CAI – for the first time since its conclusion last December. A cross-political group consensus is emerging: the EU needs to move first in other areas of policy affecting its China economic and political relationship …
MEPs in the international trade committee are near-unanimously sceptical of the European Union’s vaccine export authorisation mechanism introduced at the end of January 2021.
The United Kingdom has acquiesced to the European Union’s request to extend provisional application of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement until 30 April 2021. London continues to refuse to formally establish the EU-UK Partnership Council foreseen in the agreement as long as the deal is not ratified by the …
Plurilateral or ‘Joint Statement’ initiatives launched in 2017 to modernise rules in the trading system start maturing. Now members face a battle over having them established in the World Trade Organization treaty framework. India and South Africa claim Joint Statement initiative deals are illegal In December 2017, a large group …
It’s been an eventful week, dominated by the new EU trade strategy or Trade Policy Review. Below, other important developments…
We have put together a list of concrete actions the European Commission has listed in today’s new trade policy strategy communication as a means to fulfil its stated goals.
