Insisting that it has complied with a World Trade Organization ruling faulting its ban on European pork imports, Russia has asked for consultations with the EU to discuss the matter. If the discussions fail to resolve the dispute – as they almost certainly will – Moscow’s next step would be …
Trade defence
EU could join Canada in WTO dispute over US tariffs – but it likely won’t
When Canada lodged its sweeping case against US tariffs at the World Trade Organization last month, it cited almost 200 examples of alleged wrongdoing against trading partners including Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Brazil and India. Despite talk of an EU-US ‘trade war’, and although the complaint was filed in a …
EU duties on Indonesian biodiesel break rules, WTO says
European tariffs on Indonesian biodiesel are illegal, the World Trade Organization said today in a ruling that contains the same basic findings as in a similar WTO complaint lodged by Argentina. But the panel went even further, faulting the EU’s profit calculations and finding serious defects with the bloc’s export-price …
Price comparability becomes key focus in China MES dispute at WTO
The legal arguments in Beijing’s World Trade Organization complaint challenging the EU’s refusal to treat China as a market economy in dumping probes should focus on the underlying ability of WTO members to ensure price comparability when dealing with economies where prices are distorted, the US and the EU argue. …
Week ahead in EU trade: TDI, Davos, WTO, Azerbaijan
It will be a busy week on the trade front this week, with the European Parliament’s trade committee set to vote on the reform on the EU’s trade-defence instruments and the World Economic Forum’s meeting in Davos, Switzerland – including a World Trade Organization ‘mini-ministerial’ on the sidelines of the …
Russia vows to fight EU demand for WTO sanctions in pig spat
Not surprisingly, Moscow has announced that it plans to fight efforts by the EU to slap 1.39 billion euros in trade sanctions on Russia for failing to lift a ban on European pork and pigs. If the EU convinces World Trade Organization judges that Russia continues to flout global trade …
Fjellner: My reasons for supporting the new EU dumping methodology
MEP Christofer Fjellner explains why he voted in support of the EU’s new trade defence methodology, which comes into force today, despite what he sees as its shortcomings. Throughout my 13 years in the European Parliament, I have worked for balanced use of the EU’s trade defence instruments. …
EU, US aren’t acting in good faith on MES, China tells WTO
China tends to play its cards very close to its chest when it comes to World Trade Organization disputes. So Beijing’s decision to publish part of its oral statement to the WTO panel adjudicating its complaint about the EU’s refusal to treat China as a free economy underscores just how …
A week in Brussels: Brexit Phase 2, China subsidies, net neutrality, robust trade
It’s been an intense week again for EU trade. While trade agreements with far away countries like those in the Mercosur bloc have taken a hit, the trade focus is now clearly shifting closer to home, namely to Brexit. Brexit: Habemus Phase II It was widely expected. Member …
A week in Brussels: Japan, Brexit compromise, WTO, Mercosur
It’s been an eventful week in Brussels. EU-Japan FTA – on track The EU and Japan finalised their free trade agreement negotiations this morning. The full text of the deal will be available in a few days. These FTA negotiations were politically concluded this summer. Negotiators worked …