It’s time for the World Trade Organization to study the impact of state-owned banks giving low-cost loans to state-owned industries to boost demand during recessions, US-led group of five WTO members says.
EU trade policies
Intense agriculture lobbying as Mercosur talks resume
There is intense lobbying in Brussels on beef, sugar and ethanol this week as dormant trade talks resume with Mercosur, the South American bloc.
Comment: UNCITRAL and the future of ISDS – fix it or nix it?
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law has an opportunity this week to keep pace with the other developments around the world challenging ISDS by using bold and creative thinking. Such innovation is not beyond UNCITRAL’s mandate, argues Rob Howse. Nothing unites critics of globalization these days …
Blog: EU-Mexico agreement – key elements
The European Commission has released an 18-page document on the EU-Mexico free trade deal that was concluded over the weekend. Here are the distilled contents of the modernisation exercise, with yours truly’s knee-jerk reactions and annotations. Negotiators will work over the coming months on a final pact ready to …
WTO: EU, US and Japanese silence on steel measures speaks louder than words
The EU, the US and India came under fire today for measures to protect their steel and solar cell industries. But what’s more interesting is what wasn’t said during the meeting of the World Trade Organization’s Safeguards Committee. WTO members criticised the EU’s ‘safeguard’ investigation into steel as well …
Week ahead in EU trade: INTA, MIC, Mercosur, Tunisia, trade remedies, UK customs union
Put on your seatbelt and get prepared for a crazy ride this week.
In brief: EU and Mexico reach political agreement over modernised trade pact
The EU and Mexico have decided it’s time to declare the deal done. In a joint statement released on Saturday night, the EU’s trade and agriculture commissioners and Mexico’s economy minister said that “after several months of intense negotiations, this afternoon we reached an agreement in principle on trade …
Beyond Brussels: ‘Winds of change are blowing’ on WTO rules, Wolff says
Initiatives and discussions involving large groups of countries on issues such as electronic commerce and investment facilitation signal that global trade rules are set for a revamp, says Alan Wolff, deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization. “The WTO rulebook very likely will be updated to address current and …
A week in Brussels: Mexico progress, data flows, e-bikes, investment screening
It was another packed week in trade, with the trans-Atlantic relationship on top of everyone’s mind. We’ve covered some of it here, as well as developments in the run-up to the launch of EU-Australia and EU-New Zealand free trade talks. There’s been a lot of movement between the EU and …
Comment: WTO crisis, Trump, and the EU’s credibility challenge
The EU is struggling to find a consistent, coherent and efficient strategy approach to the US administration’s choking off of the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body and to its unilateral tariffs on steel and aluminium. There is a lot of back-and-forth in the background – both in Brussels and …
