Unrivalled coverage of European trade policy
Monday, October 21, 2019
The United Kingdom is committed to negotiating a free trade agreement with the United States after it leaves the EU – even if the deal turns out to be ‘shallower’ in nature than the government would like, according to UK trade minister George Hollingbery.
The week started with a gloomy assessment of the transatlantic tariff threat picture by the trade commissioner and ended with threats of new US tariffs on France, and potentially Britain, following moves in Paris and London to giant digital company profits.
The European Commission is trumpeting what it sees as another success of its engage-and-disarm strategy against the administration of US President Trump, with the resolution of a dispute over an EU quota for hormone-free beef.
The European Union is reviewing a safeguard it introduced earlier in 2019 to relieve steel producers from inexpensive imports in a market it feared would be flooded by cheap products in the aftermath of the US’s Section 232 steel import restrictions. The measure pits embattled European steel producers against the …
The British automobile industry is failing to muster much excitement about the prospect of a bilateral trade deal with its second-largest export market, the United States. This is mainly because of the likely consequences of any such deal for trade with its number one market, the European Union. Sense of …
The European Commission no longer seems to trust global norms, fora or rule-making negotiations to uphold its interests in digital, competition, industry and trade policy. In fact many norms hardly exist and won’t likely emerge so quickly. The EU’s executive arm has been rethinking its policy toolkit and is seeking …
The United States have tried to address long-standing trade concerns with China by using tariffs as a means to put pressure on Beijing. But tariffs won’t likely extract the concessions that Washington is hoping for. A different negotiating tactic involving a balanced agreement with China and cooperation with allies may …
A Danish cheese is at the centre of the latest international controversy over EU policy on Geographical Indications. A European Commission committee has cleared the way for ‘Havarti’ – a semi-soft Danish cow’s milk cheese – to be recognised as a Protected Geographical Indication, joining almost 3,400 other regional products …
Today’s trade ministers’ meeting was an opportunity to take stock of ongoing European Union-United States files. The gathering took place more than a week after US president Trump postponed imposing duties of up to 25% on imports of autos by six months. The US president however asked for negotiations to …
This week will mainly be about the European Union digesting Donald Trump’s decision to postpone slapping tariffs on imported autos for six months to seek a deal with Brussels and Tokyo on restricting imports. EU-US and OECD trade ministerial Trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström reacted quickly on Friday (17 May) on …
