While the World Trade Organization faces multiple crises, including COVID-19 vaccine export control threats and massive trade wars, the institution's Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff delivered a 10-item agenda for moving forward. Speaking Feb. 9 at a Washington International Trade Association conference, Wolff said the WTO will be judged by “how well it deals with the crises of our time,” saying it must “demonstrate soon and visibly that it can deliver on subjects relevant to all those who engage in international trade or are affected by it ... pretty much everyone.”
The World Trade Organization's General Council will meet Feb. 15 to vote on the appointment of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be the new director-general. The withdrawal of the other finalist and the U.S. announcement that it supports her candidacy cleared the way for the vote.
The panels tasked with deciding whether Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports truly meet the national security exemption at the World Trade Organization notified WTO ambassadors that those decisions will be released no sooner than “the second half of 2021” because of delays caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple panels are considering the tariffs against various countries and the European Union. Although the panels were assigned the cases a year ago, with decisions to be made in six months or less, all the panels told Geneva officials Feb. 8 that their decisions will be released in July at the earliest.
South Korea Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee dropped her candidacy for World Trade Organization director-general, clearing a path for Nigeria's Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be elected. Announcing her decision at a Feb. 5 briefing in Seoul, Yoo said it was made in coordination with the U.S. as a way to reach a consensus among WTO members on the one candidate who will lead the organization, according to a report in The Korea Herald.
Speakers for Navigating the New Normal, a keynote panel at a trade symposium convened by The Economist Feb. 2, discussed whether the political pressure to bring supply chains closer to home will overcome the fact that Vietnam's and China's economies weathered the pandemic better than Europe, with no conclusion, but also talked about what the future of the “special relationship” between the U.S. and the United Kingdom will be in trade.
Senior trade officials from 29 World Trade Organization member states called for the “swift” appointment of a new WTO director-general and the restoration of the nonfunctioning dispute settlement system (see 2012110032), during a Jan. 29 virtual ministerial meeting, according to a summary released by Guy Parmelin, president of Switzerland and host for the meeting. The officials -- representing the U.S., China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Kenya and others -- also stressed the importance of maintaining open trade during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery period.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire issued a readout of his call with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, saying they heartily agree a multilateral global solution should be found on taxing multinational firms, and that American officials will engage at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to that end. He also said they both think trade tensions between France and the U.S. should be reduced, and said he emphasized the damaging tariffs on French wines. Those are part of the 25% tariff target list to punish the European Union for subsidizing Airbus aircraft launches. The Treasury Department did not issue its readout of the call.
The European Union wants to work with America on ways to develop Artificial Intelligence standards, design a carbon adjustment border mechanism and stockpile medicines and personal protective gear in a way that lessens dependency on certain Asian countries, its ambassador to the U.S. said on a webinar hosted by the European American Chamber of Commerce
China warned President Joe Biden not to follow the same adversarial path that the Trump administration took on China policies, urging the new administration to help strengthen bilateral relations in an “objective and rational manner.” Biden should “learn from the Trump administration’s lessons where they carried out the wrong policies on China,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Jan. 26. The countries have “broad common interests and shoulder special, major responsibilities in safeguarding world peace and stability.” China’s comments came one day after the White House said it views China as a strategic competitor and will work to counter the country’s illegal trade practices (see 2101250049).
The World Customs Organization announced additional changes to the upcoming 2022 edition of the Harmonized System that were recently agreed upon as corrections and amendments to the initial text announced in January 2020 (see 2001290033). The additional changes include corrections throughout the classification scheme, as well as amendments to chapters 21, 24, 26, 29, 67, 84, 88 and 97. While the latest version of the HS, released every five years, takes effect Jan. 1, 2022, these additional amendments will not be binding until Jan. 1, 2023, though parties to the HS are “encouraged” to apply them beginning in 2022, the WCO said.