G7 nations are meeting in Taormina, Sicily, amidst high political tensions between the US and European countries, in particular Germany. Common ground on trade will be difficult to find. The EU and Japan are trying to advance their own free trade agenda in parallel. The trade tensions with the US are likely to …
Asia
Fifteen EU member states call for progress in data flow text in EU Japan
A group of 15 EU member states has called on the EU Commission to step up efforts to draw up a common position that secures free cross border data flows in free trade agreements. The move comes at a time when the EU is finalising its four year old …
In brief: Sri Lanka gets GSP+ back, Philippines fears losing it
Sri Lanka regained its lost ‘GSP Plus’ status on Friday (19 May 2017). The country lost the preferential market access status in 2010 following government human right abuses in the context of its crackdown on the Tamil Tiger rebellion. Since 2015, the new government under Ranil Wickremesinghe has fought hard …
ECJ says investor-state dispute settlement not exclusive EU remit
The long-awaited ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU on the division of competences between Brussels and the member states on the content of the 2013/2014 free trade agreement with Singapore settles many perpetual power tussles between Brussels and the capitals on a variety of trade-related topics. The …
China’s Belt and Road: EU and Britain ask for share of the pie
China wanted to make the now-closing Belt and Road Forum a major global summit. But only 20 heads of state responded to invitations from Beijing. Western nations mostly sent ministers. It was nonetheless a big bash. OBOR, as the new ‘Silk Road’ initiative is called, is a plan by Beijing …
Council agrees on new TDI methodology
Member states have agreed on a new methodology to calculate antidumping duties after almost six months of internal negotiations. The suggested methodology will apply to all trade defence cases in future once adopted. The change to the EU’s basic antidumping regulation follows on plans to do away with a specific methodology – the …
Japan FTA: Brussels signals breakthroughs in ‘non tariff’ area
The European Commission is raising expectations that the EU Japan free trade agreement will bring significant reductions in ‘non tariff’ barriers to European exports. Brussels and Tokyo have been working intensely to reach the final stretches of what is now a four-year free trade agreement negotiation that has seen various ups and …
India: EU “awaiting reply” on trade dialogue after BIT upset
The EU has not been successful in convincing India to relaunch long-stalled bilateral free trade negotiations. Nor has it been able to stop New Delhi from cancelling its bilateral investment treaties with individual EU member states. So far, there seems no way out of the impasse, a letter written by trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström …
EU gears up China trade defence fight with increased duties on iron, steel
On Thursday (6 April 2017), the EU slapped definitive antidumping duties ‘hot-rolled’ iron products and on steel imported from China. The move comes only a few days after the WTO established a dispute settlement panel following a Chinese complaint in which Beijing accuses the EU of illegally continuing to apply its …
Philippines FTA: EU lets go on talks
The EU Commission is putting free trade talks with the Philippines on halt. In practice, this means it is not setting a new date for a new round of free trade negotiations given concerns over the country’s human rights record. FTA talks with the Philippines were launched in 2016 and are part …
