News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
With holidays in Europe this week on Tuesday and Thursday, it’s a given that the news flow will ease a bit. So it’s a particularly good time for a group of European Parliament trade committee members to head to China to get a better handle on the state of EU-China …
China may use subsidies to prop up a range of domestic industries, but oversupply in these sectors has little impact on global trade, a Swiss-based trade watchdog says in a new report on the current steel glut and protectionism.
There are just two key items on the EU trade agenda this week – which of course is shortened a bit by the Labour Day holiday tomorrow – but both are of widespread interest: the divisive US tariffs on steel and aluminium and Brexit. The European Parliament is also meeting …
Two big countries dominated the agenda on trade in Brussels this week: the United States and China. Both topics are not unrelated. In this regard, a lot happened in the WTO – see Jennifer’s stories here, here and here. Another topic that has kept EU leaders busy is the bloc’s …
It’s time for the World Trade Organization to study the impact of state-owned banks giving low-cost loans to state-owned industries to boost demand during recessions, US-led group of five WTO members says.
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law has an opportunity this week to keep pace with the other developments around the world challenging ISDS by using bold and creative thinking. Such innovation is not beyond UNCITRAL’s mandate, argues Rob Howse. Nothing unites critics of globalization these days …
The European Commission has released an 18-page document on the EU-Mexico free trade deal that was concluded over the weekend. Here are the distilled contents of the modernisation exercise, with yours truly’s knee-jerk reactions and annotations. Negotiators will work over the coming months on a final pact ready to …
Put on your seatbelt and get prepared for a crazy ride this week.
Initiatives and discussions involving large groups of countries on issues such as electronic commerce and investment facilitation signal that global trade rules are set for a revamp, says Alan Wolff, deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization. “The WTO rulebook very likely will be updated to address current and …
It was another packed week in trade, with the trans-Atlantic relationship on top of everyone’s mind. We’ve covered some of it here, as well as developments in the run-up to the launch of EU-Australia and EU-New Zealand free trade talks. There’s been a lot of movement between the EU and …
