EU FTAs & bilateral ties

Agriculture Defensive trade policy Ukraine, Russia & CIS WTO dispute settlement

WTO set to determine Russian compliance with pork ruling

Insisting that it has complied with a World Trade Organization ruling faulting its ban on European pork imports, Russia has asked for consultations with the EU to discuss the matter. If the discussions fail to resolve the dispute – as they almost certainly will – Moscow’s next step would be …

Defensive trade policy France North America WTO dispute settlement

EU could join Canada in WTO dispute over US tariffs – but it likely won’t

When Canada lodged its sweeping case against US tariffs at the World Trade Organization last month, it cited almost 200 examples of alleged wrongdoing against trading partners including Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Brazil and India. Despite talk of an EU-US ‘trade war’, and although the complaint was filed in a …

Canada and CETA Japan UK trade policy UK WTO & 3rd countries UK-EU negotiations

Brexit transition: EU won’t stop UK from talking to other trading partners

  The United Kingdom won’t be blocked from negotiating or renegotiating international trade agreements with third countries during the Brexit transition period, as long as it doesn’t start applying them before the end of that period, EU member states clarified today.   Although doing so is the British government’s formal …

'Week Ahead' and trade agenda Latest news Mercosur World Trade Organization

Week ahead in EU trade: Mercosur, Brexit, fisheries aid

  With Davos done and dusted, trade-related meetings taper off quite a bit this week. In Brussels, attention will focus on efforts of ministers to figure out how to bring the EU-Mercosur trade deal to a successful conclusion. It’s also Brexit week.   Mercosur ministerial meeting   The EU and …

A week in Brussels Investment liberalisation agreements Investment screening Japan Mercosur Mexico Singapore Vietnam

Week in Brussels – Japan first, Mercosur politics, investment screening

In Brussels, there is a lot of movement behind the scenes to try and finalise trade agreements with Mexico, Mercosur and Japan. Investment screening is climbing the policy priority list.   The EU lost a case in the World Trade Organization against Indonesia over dumping duties it applies against palm …

Agriculture Asia EU Climate, Environment, Labour, Human Rights Indonesia Select anti-dumping cases Select anti-subsidy investigations South Asia & ASEAN WTO dispute settlement

EU duties on Indonesian biodiesel break rules, WTO says

European tariffs on Indonesian biodiesel are illegal, the World Trade Organization said today in a ruling that contains the same basic findings as in a similar WTO complaint lodged by Argentina. But the panel went even further, faulting the EU’s profit calculations and finding serious defects with the bloc’s export-price …

Anti-corruption Chile Public procurement

FTAs: How the EU is approaching the fight against corruption

Among trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström’s pledges in her 2015 ‘Trade for All’ strategy there is stepping up the fight against corruption. This promise is gradually being translated into action with new anti-corruption provisions foreseen in the coming updated EU Mexico Global Agreement and recently launched EU Chile Association Agreement upgrade. …

EU FTAs & bilateral ties Mexico

FTA modernisation – EU and Mexico differ on timing for deal announcement

Negotiations to modernise the almost 20-year-old trade agreement between the EU and Mexico have intensified despite a missed December 2017 deadline set by EU negotiators to announce a political deal. Here’s the state of play.   Mexico and the EU are clearly committed to clinching an agreement. Progress and goodwill …