News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Germany is leaving behind a period of six months of wait-and-see on major policy areas and has finally installed a new coalition government. For Berlin, Brexit is now starting to be one of the country’s top European priorities. The trade aspect of the UK’s withdrawal, transition period and future …
Peter Altmaier’s nomination at the helm of Germany’s powerful economics ministry today comes as no surprise. Angela Merkel’s former chief of staff takes over from a ministry held until recently by the SPD, as part of the coalition deal that gave the even mightier finance ministry to the centre-left’s Olaf …
The same day that Dennis Shea was sworn in as the top US envoy to the World Trade Organization, Washington submitted a revised proposal to toughen up rules for countries to meet deadlines for notifying agricultural subsidies and other trade measures. Although there were no changes in the proposed penalties …
What comes next in the EU-US row over President Donald Trump’s decision to slap import tariffs on steel and aluminium on national security grounds is not entirely clear. Uncertainty is part of the game. Experts familiar with Washington politics tend to think that the US president is in for some …
Anyone with a backlog of work should try to catch up on it this week, as the trade agenda is rather thin and next week is packed. The top news out of Brussels in the next few days may well focus on the Brexit draft guidelines, which are the subject …
US President Donald Trump announced yesterday that his country would apply import tariffs on steel and aluminium of 25% and 10% respectively on national security grounds. The announcement was expected. Trump decided to exempt Canada and Mexico, close neighbours, major suppliers of these metals, and fellow members of the …
The European Commission is communicating loudly on its intentions should US President Donald Trump follow through on his intention to slap import duties of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium from Europe. Will Germany buy it? As widely reported and discussed on this website, the EU intends to …
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled today unequivocally that intra-European international investor-state arbitration tribunals are not compatible with EU law. Its summary judgement gives little insight into how it might rule on the compatibility of international investor-state tribunals set up by the European Union with third countries. …
A World Trade Organization case against the United States’ Section 232 steel and aluminium tariffs is bound to rock the global trading system, writes Jennifer Freedman. Despite President Donald Trump’s claim that US duties on foreign steel and aluminium would safeguard American jobs and revive domestic industry, there is …
There’s about one year to go before its top leadership gets renewed. Yet the European Commission risks missing out on the early harvest it reaped in its free trade agreement negotiations with ASEAN members in the first years of this legislature, writes Iana Dreyer. The EU’s executive is trying …
