The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body on April 25 agreed to establish a panel to review the EU's countervailing duties on new battery electric vehicles from China. The panel was created following China's second request to do so, because Beijing says the CVD violate Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (see 2408140010).

Guatemala and Peru told the World Trade Organization on April 23 that they resolved a dispute brought by Guatemala against Peru's additional duties on imports of certain agricultural products. The Guatemalan government said Peru "has adopted the necessary measures to comply with the recommendations and rulings" of the Dispute Settlement Body. Specifically, the dispute concerned Peru's variable additional duties on agricultural products, which were calculated under a price band system. A DSB panel previously found that Peru's duties violate WTO commitments.

The EU opened arbitration proceedings at the World Trade Organization on April 24 to review a dispute panel's findings on China's enforcement of intellectual property rights. The EU started the proceedings under the WTO's Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), which has been regarded by some nations as an alternative to the defunct Appellate Body. The WTO said the case marks the second time both the EU and China have turned to the MPIA to settle a dispute between them.

The State Department has approved a possible $2.19 billion military sale to the Netherlands, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said April 25. The sale includes “Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and related equipment,” and the principal contractor will be RTX Corp.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., both tweeted their support April 25 for Paraguay’s designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization (see 2504240065).

Amid swirling reports that China is considering exemptions from tariffs on some critical U.S. goods, an industry expert said that these moves should not be read as a broader shift in the trade war between the two countries.

The Council of the European Union on April 25 extended its sanctions on Myanmar for one year, pushing them to April 30, 2026. The restrictions currently apply to 106 individuals and 22 entries and include an asset freeze, arms embargo and restriction on the export of dual-use goods and equipment for monitoring communication that may be used for internal repression.

The Treasury Department is exploring several ways to improve its screening of inbound and outbound investment, Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender said April 24.

A new executive order aimed at reducing regulatory restrictions around weapons sales could speed up exports to allies and remove other trade barriers, law firms said, although key questions remain about how U.S. agencies will implement it.

Foreign countries' retaliatory tariffs against the Trump administration’s new global tariffs could cut U.S. exports of goods covered by the World Trade Organization’s Information Technology Agreement by at least $56 billion a year, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said April 23.