The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 26 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The EU and 11 other countries plan to present a proposal to reform the World Trade Organization's Appellate Body, the European Commission said in a news release. The U.S. has prevented appointments to the appellate body in recent years, leaving it without the required minimum of judges. "The appellate body function of the WTO dispute settlement system is moving towards a cliff's edge," EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom said. "Without this core function of the WTO, the world would lose a system that has ensured stability in global trade for decades. Now, together with a broad coalition of WTO members, we are presenting our most concrete proposals yet for WTO reform. I hope that this will contribute to breaking the current deadlock, and that all WTO members will take responsibility equally, engaging in good faith in the reform process." The proposal from the EU, Australia, Canada, China, Iceland, India, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and Switzerland is scheduled to be presented at a Dec. 12 WTO meeting, it said. The proposal includes new rules for outgoing appellate judges and efficiency improvements, it said.
China will be hurt more than the U.S. by their trade war, but growth will be dampened in both countries, according to a recent report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD forecasts that the Chinese GDP will drop by .5 percentage point if the current U.S. tariffs that are set to rise from 10 percent to 25 percent do so on Jan. 1; it will drop by 1 percentage point if tariffs are levied by the U.S. on all Chinese exports. And, business uncertainty could cause a drop of 1.3 percentage points, the Nov. 21 report suggested.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 23 (some may also be given separate headlines):
In recent editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body is establishing panels to review seven countries' complaints about Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as panels on Chinese, Canadian, Mexican and European retaliatory tariffs in response to those tariffs. The countries that requested a WTO verdict about the U.S. action include China, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Turkey and the European Union. All said that the tariffs, claimed as necessary to protect national security, are really safeguards, but the U.S. did not follow safeguard rules. The retaliatory tariffs, aimed to mirror the cost of the tariffs, are illegal, the U.S. argues. Countries hit by safeguard tariffs can raise tariffs in response, but only after a WTO panel says they can.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 21 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters: