News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Sunday, April 27, 2025
The European Commission has issued guidelines to member states that signal it has significantly watered down export restrictions on protective medical gear such as gloves or masks introduced earlier this week. Last week-end’s EU move – intended to be in force for a period of 6 weeks only – provoked …
The European Union is revising for a second time its steel import safeguard which it formally introduced in February 2019. Turkey is now potentially complicating the process. Imports of steel from across the world were restricted following the United States’ decision to introduce high tariffs on steel imports on national …
Border closures within the EU introduced by member states to stem the spread of COVID-19 and EU-wide restrictions on travel into the bloc imperil medical supplies, say operators in the medical industry.
Brussels’ move is such a rare occurrence that it’s worth delving into the details of the European Union’s new export restrictions of protective medical gear introduced following the COVID-19 outbreak on the continent. Legally, the measure is an ‘implementing regulation’ of a 2015 regulation on common rules for exports (Regulation …
Trade sniping out of Washington just doesn’t seem to be ending. Bloomberg reported yesterday that the White House was mulling pulling out of the Government Procurement Agreement, a preferential accord among a subset of mostly rich-country members of the World Trade Organization. China and Russia are in the process of …
It’s been a week full of hoo haa around EU US agriculture trade. The EU put a bit of antidumping into its digital strategy. The European Parliament ratified the EU-UK withdrawal agreement on Wednesday and offered a moving good-bye ceremony to Britons. In London, Union Jack flags are being waved …
This week was mainly about the EU getting back into business mode. The main focus has been on preparing the ground for trade negotiations starting next month with the United Kingdom and managing transatlantic relations. More below. Commissioner Breton toys with idea of a data localisation obligations for business data …
World Trade Organization member countries have pledged to at least make an effort to agree new disciplines on domestic agricultural subsidies at the Organization’s ministerial meeting in Kazakhstan next June. Negotiators will begin work in January 2020 on a possible new text for agreement at the Nur-Sultan ministerial, bolstered by …
Usually World Trade Organization ‘safeguard committees’ are an understated, quiet affair. But Monday’s meeting in Geneva was different as it looked at a record number of 45 safeguard measures taken by members in recent months. The European Union’s own steel safeguard, in force since July 2018 and revised last month, …
We all know it. The World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement body can’t cope with an overload of disputes. 2018 saw a surge in requests for consultations and dispute panels which an understaffed system now needs to digest. While the rules setting out the functioning of the WTO’s dispute panels stipulate …
