News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Thursday, May 1, 2025
It’s school holiday week in Brussels, so we expect few meetings there in the coming days. But there is still loads happening in the background. EU and Chinese negotiators are meeting two days in an attempt to move forward on their bilateral investment agreement and other common files such as …
A comparatively ‘quiet’ week in Brussels on trade. The week was eventful on the WTO and multilateral trade front, with Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs, Canada’s mini WTO reform summit, and the UK’s WTO tariff schedule dominating the headlines. Ottawa WTO meeting sets ball rolling on reform As expected, …
US duties on steel and aluminium are not only taking a toll on countries across the globe, but they’re triggering a “wave of direct and indirect actions and reactions” that is likely to expand in the coming weeks and months. “Obviously one country’s action becomes the second country’s reason to …
The US is threatening to levy high auto tariffs on EU firms via the Section 232 national security exception if Brussels does not agree to liberalise agriculture markets, several sources indicated to Borderlex. But how credible is that threat? And if the US gets real on this threat, in what form …
The EU’s safeguard measures on steel, introduced this summer to avoid deflection of pipes, wires and rods following Washington’s decision to impose 25% steel tariffs on national security grounds, is raising hackles with trading partners. Seven World Trade Organization members expressed their grievances in Geneva today against the bloc’s decision …
WTO focus Expect news this week on World Trade Organization issues. In Geneva, there will be a few special meetings on agriculture and on subsidies and countervailing measures that could indicate how much movement there really is on market access talks in the first and the ‘reform’ agenda driven by Western …
The long Asia-focused trade week in Brussels is finishing late on a Friday with a salvo of new announcements. Here a quick roundup. Juncker-Abe meeting During a bilateral meeting with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo is readying itself to ratify the recently signed EU …
The week is far from over at the time of writing, but it’s still time to send out our regular Friday “Week in Brussels” column, as there is plenty of material already. The EU quarter of Brussels has been in total lockdown for several days as heads of government from …
Next week, Canada will unveil to a group of World Trade Organization members a discussion paper outlining consensus-based solutions that Ottawa says will bolster the global trading system. The problem is that the US – which isn’t part of that group – has already identified major elements of the Canadian …
There were unpleasant noises from US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross and US ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland on Wednesday night following Ross’ meeting with EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström in Brussels. Some media outlets called it the end of the trade ‘truce’ with the United States reached last summer. It …
