News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Thursday, May 8, 2025
EU trade this week was heavy on WTO reform and China (here, here). Brexit was all over the headlines. But there are no actual new developments to report from the heads of government meeting in Austria with Prime Minister Theresa May this week. The Irish border issue remains unresolved, so …
Any mention of the World Trade Organization these days usually includes the words “reform” or “Appellate Body”. While efforts to limit harmful fisheries subsidies aren’t making many big headlines right now, the good news is that they actually seem to be making some progress. That’s not to say a deal …
There’s been a little bit of noise this week on EU trade files in relation to Asia. So here a short update.
The EU and China know they must work together to show leadership in matters of global trade and investment. But realising effective cooperation with trade partners to make the system more robust and to withstand the “disruptive bilateralism originating from Washington” is easier said than done, argues Jacques Pelkmans.
After this summer’s successful EU-China summit, Brussels and Beijing are trying to find common ground on trade and investment as well as World Trade Organization reform. Yet despite an exchange of market access offers as part of ongoing investment talks, the two sides are finding it hard to bridge gaps. Worse, …
It’s been a big-ticket week in trade, kicked off by a meeting between the USTR and the EU’s trade commissioner on a possible ‘deal’, and two big reports adopted by the European Parliament on relations with the United States and with China. There was also some action on the Brexit …
Trade ministers from the world’s top 20 economies will gather today in the coastal Argentine town of Mar del Plata to discuss issues such as e-commerce and inclusive global value chains in the agricultural sector. But there can be little doubt that the $500 billion firestorm brewing between the US …
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on European Union – United States relations that takes a conciliatory tone towards Washington, despite the recent deterioration of bilateral political, security and trade relations. MEPs called on the US to scrap its aluminium and steel tariffs on the EU and to work with …
The European Parliament adopted a new resolution on EU-China relations. China is a divisive topic in the European Union. Yet the report, adopted in a comparatively smooth process with a strong majority of 530 MEPs, can be said to reflect a consensus view of the bloc’s political establishment on the …
Robert Lighthizer and Cecilia Malmström qualified their first formal meeting following the July Trump-Juncker trade truce as “constructive”. The two sides are trying to firm up the contours of a trade ‘deal’ to counter a potential descent into tit-for-tat tariff escalation after the United States imposed duties on steel and aluminium …
