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 …
EU FTAs & bilateral ties
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 …
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 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 …
Malmström to Trump: Davos message should be that US will engage with world
EU trade chief Cecilia Malmström hopes President Donald Trump will bring one message to the World Economic Forum meeting when he speaks this afternoon – that the US “wants to engage with the world”. “The fact that he’s coming here is a signal,” she said yesterday in a panel …
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 …
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 …
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. …
Price comparability becomes key focus in China MES dispute at WTO
The legal arguments in Beijing’s World Trade Organization complaint challenging the EU’s refusal to treat China as a market economy in dumping probes should focus on the underlying ability of WTO members to ensure price comparability when dealing with economies where prices are distorted, the US and the EU argue. …
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 …