Chu Thang Trung, deputy director of Vietnam's Trade Remedies Authority, said exporting firms should diversify export markets to avoid "putting all their eggs in one basket," and skirt the challenges posed by increasing trade remedy investigations against Vietnamese goods, the state-run CustomsNews reported Aug. 26.

Although tensions over Mexico's discouragement of foreign investment in its energy sector and the perennial problem of migration are likely to be front and center, panelists at a Wilson Center Mexico Institute program previewing the Mexican president's visit to Washington said nearshoring ought to be a focus as well.

The leaders of the G-7 countries -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. -- emphasized that they are going to accelerate their efforts to eradicate "state-sponsored forced labour of vulnerable groups and minorities, including in the agricultural, solar, and garment sectors."

Trade ministers meeting at the World Trade Organization in Geneva agreed to a partial solution to harmful subsidies for fishing fleets, an intellectual property waiver for Covid vaccines, and to allow sale of commodities to the World Food Program even if the product is otherwise subject to export restrictions. The countries that attended the ministerial conference also agreed to extend the moratorium on tariffs on electronic transmissions.

Mexico announced that it will examine whether the Panasonic Automotive Systems plant in Reynosa violated the rights of its workers (see 2205180061) under the provisions of the USMCA.

The US-EU Trade and Technology Council needs to limit its ambitions if it is to be successful, said Tyson Barker, head of the Technology and Global Affairs Program at the German Council on Foreign Relations, during a Washington International Trade Association webinar May 13.

Russia plans to soon ban exports of certain commodities and raw materials, The Wall Street Journal reported March 8. President Vladimir Putin will give his cabinet two days to come up with goods subject to the ban, which Russia said will help ensure “the security of the Russian Federation and the uninterrupted functioning of industry,” according to the report. The export ban is expected to last until Dec. 31.

"China has conducted a full, comprehensive and in-depth study and evaluation of the content of the agreement. China is willing to make efforts to fully meet the CPTPP rules and standards through reforms, and to make a high-level commitment to opening up in the field of market access that exceeds China's existing contracting practices, so as to provide members with market access opportunities with huge commercial interests," a Chinese spokesperson said at a press conference, according to a translation from Professor Henry Gao. CPTPP is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Gao said this shows "the Chinese application is serious and its accession is closer than many people might think."

The Ambassador Bridge reopened Feb. 14 just after midnight, after protesters blocked the main exit and entrance of the bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit for six days, Canadian press reported. A few hours earlier, the White House said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg had spoken with their Canadian counterparts about the issue that day. Auto plants in Michigan shut down temporarily because of the disruption.

A World Trade Organization panel said the U.S. International Trade Commission made numerous errors as it laid the groundwork for a safeguard tariff on large residential washing machines and parts, a tariff that is still in place for entries above the quota. The tariff is currently 14% within the quota threshold for washers and 30% on parts and washers above the quota threshold.