This week’s main meeting in Brussels is one of trade ministers, gathering for a Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Thursday – coronavirus travel restrictions permitting. This is more of a stock-take meeting than one where big decisions will be taken. On the agenda: Formally approving the EU-Vietnam FTA. After the …
‘Week Ahead’ and trade agenda
Week Ahead in EU trade: INTA week, CETA, services
Good morning, a few things to watch out for this week. On Tuesday, the Dutch lower house will vote on the ratification of CETA, the flagship trade agreement with Canada signed in 2016 and which is already partially in force. Though the Dutch are famed for being a trading nation …
Week Ahead: Brexit countdown, WTO, CETA
Good morning Brexit Europe. Brexit begins for real Britain has been out of the EU for two days now. The countdown to the end of the ‘transition period’ by year-end is on. Negotiations on a new relationship – to start in exactly one month – promise to be tumultuous. Today …
Week ahead: China, Davos, Vietnam FTA, Cambodia duties, MIC
Good morning. A heavy-duty week lies ahead in EU trade. China rock and US hard place There is China. The EU is still reeling from the fallout of the US-China trade agreement concluded as a ‘truce’ to end the mutual tariff escalation triggered by Washington in 2018. Be it the …
EU US, China, Brexit, Indonesia, Solomon Islands
This article was prepared with input from Chris Horseman. It is haping up to be a good Christmas for USTR Robert Lighthizer. But this means it won’t be a good Christmas for the European Union. United States relations in focus Over the last few days, the United States and China …
Week Ahead: WTO, UK general election, EU New Zealand
This week will be a critical week for the future of the World Trade Organization, the European Union and the United Kingdom (in all this). WTO crisis in focus WTO Ambassadors are meeting for the General Council in Geneva. The gathering comes at a moment of deep crisis in the …
Week Ahead: New Commission team, Vietnam FTA focus, South East Asian files
This week is when the new European Commission team led by Ursula von der Leyen takes over the reins in the Berlaymont. US is watching The United States greeted its arrival with a message by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “The United States looks forward to working with this new …
Week Ahead: AB crunch time, US non hormone beef, Chile
Appellate Body WTO crunch time Well, this week the WTO system will be reeling from the next excuse the United States brought to postpone yet again its agreement to launch the appointment process of new Appellate Body members: remuneration. At the latest AB meeting on Friday, the US said that …
Week Ahead: Singapore, FAC trade, e-commerce, DSB
This week, another EU free trade agreement will come into force: the one with Singapore. The trade pact is also flanked by a separate investment protection agreement. The FTA will liberalise trade in goods but also in particular services. EU firms will benefit from greater market openings in financial services, …
Week ahead in EU Trade: Cambodia EBA suspension, US auto tariff deadline, CETA
This will be less a week of action on trade in the EU than a week of deadlines. Watch out for a possible first ever decision in the EU to recommend suspending Everything-But-Arms trade preferences following months of wrangling with Cambodia’s ruler Hun Sen. US auto tariff deadline The main …
