News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Saturday, April 26, 2025
Two of the biggest trade issues hanging over the EU will be on various agendas this week: the draft Brexit withdrawal and transition agreement, and the bloc’s ongoing efforts to avoid pending US steel and aluminium tariffs. European leaders are set to accept the draft agreement, but it’s anyone’s guess …
Almost all of the more than 50 World Trade Organization members that India invited to next week’s “mini-ministerial” plan to attend, but the two-day meeting is expected to accomplish little to tackle problems that have dogged the WTO for years. India decided to hold the informal gathering after the …
British government proposals to find a solution to the UK-Ireland border after Brexit are “imaginative” but largely unrealistic and there is “no evidence” that a soft border is feasible, a House of Commons committee has found.
The same day that Dennis Shea was sworn in as the top US envoy to the World Trade Organization, Washington submitted a revised proposal to toughen up rules for countries to meet deadlines for notifying agricultural subsidies and other trade measures. Although there were no changes in the proposed penalties …
Anyone with a backlog of work should try to catch up on it this week, as the trade agenda is rather thin and next week is packed. The top news out of Brussels in the next few days may well focus on the Brexit draft guidelines, which are the subject …
Good news for some, bad news for others yesterday, as US President Donald Trump pushed forward with plans to impose tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium – arguing that the levies were necessary for national security and to stop the “assault on our country” – hours after the 11 remaining members of …
A World Trade Organization case against the United States’ Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs is bound to rock the global trading system, writes Jennifer Freedman. Despite President Donald Trump’s claim that US duties on foreign steel and aluminium would safeguard American jobs and revive domestic industry, there is …
With things suspiciously quiet on both the Mercosur and Mexico trade talk fronts, the biggest news concerning Brussels this week may be coming from Luxembourg, where the Court of Justice rules on the legality of intra-EU bilateral investment treaties. The week’s headlines will most likely be dominated by the looming …
This has been a week overloaded with trade developments. There is lots of news – and speculation – floating around in the run-up to next week’s planning signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The big news from yesterday – US duties on foreign steel and aluminium – has sparked an angry reaction …
EU trade ministers are meeting in Bulgaria. The EU-ASEAN Business Summit and ASEAN Economic Ministers’ meeting will focus on trade and investment ties between the two regions. More details below: Foreign Affairs Council Trade EU trade ministers will have two main issues in mind at a meeting that …
