The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
In recent editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted:
A coalition of Canadian unions called Unifor and Public Citizen, a longtime critic of NAFTA, are both circulating petitions in the hopes of pressuring their countries' politicians. On the Canadian petition, Unifor says: "Unions have warned since the deal between Canada, the United States and Mexico came into effect in 1994 that it would hurt working people in all three countries. In the decades since, we have been proven right." An "Agreement in Principle" would commit "us to a deal without knowing the specifics," Unifor said. "We can't let this happen. Add your voice to show Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister Chrystia Freeland that they can't sign another bad trade deal without even knowing what's in it." Public Citizen's petition says that "if we organize ourselves and demand pro-people trade policy from our elected officials then we can win."
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of April 11 (some may also be given separate headlines):
China says that the U.S. decision to levy 25 percent tariffs on imported steel from some parts of the world, and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum, was not fair and impartial, and also violated World Trade Organization agreements by not treating all nations in the WTO equally with regard to the tariffs. Under WTO rules, countries are not allowed to raise tariffs above bound rates on some countries but not others in most circumstances. The U.S. used the Section 232 national security exemption from that rule, but China dismisses that assertion, and says that these tariffs are safeguards in disguise. Earlier, China asked for consultations on compensation for the safeguard tariffs (see 1803260025), and this latest request for consultations, posted April 10, tackles the legality of the action. China says the U.S. ignored the rules on how to implement safeguard tariffs. Those rules say that a country has to prove a surge in imports is harming or will harm domestic producers. The U.S. has already responded to China's earlier request for consultations by saying that these are not safeguard tariffs.
The government of Canada recently issued the following trade-related notices as of April 9 (some may also be given separate headlines):
The European Union and Japan would like to join the negotiations with the U.S., as the World Trade Organization attempts to tackle the problem of forced joint ventures, tech transfer and other violations of intellectual property rights in China. The EU wrote that its members export 680 billion euros' worth of high tech products and services, and that protecting intellectual property rights is fundamentally important for that business. It also noted that it has 180 billion euros in investment in China. "Much of the investments are concluded under joint-venture requirements," according to the document, submitted April 5.
The World Customs Organization issued the following releases on commercial trade and related matters:
Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo said he sees an 80 percent likelihood that an agreement in principle on NAFTA can be reached by the first week of May. Guajardo, Mexico's chief NAFTA negotiator, had just returned from Washington, where he, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland talked for several days. While speaking on a Mexican news show April 9, he acknowledged that there had been some thought that a deal could be reached by April 13, but negotiations are not moving fast enough to reach a definitive conclusion by then. He told the reporters that "Mexico is compromising day by day," and that the ministers are working all the time to reach an agreement.
In recent editions of the Official Journal of the European Union the following trade-related notices were posted: