Trade News
Trade News
03
Feb
Global services trade regulations showed signs of liberalisation in 2021, slowing the steady build-up of trade barriers identified in previous years, according to a new OECD report.
OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI): Policy trends up to 2022 shows that liberalisation outpaced new restrictions during the past year, as the erection of new barriers to services trade slowed across almost all major sectors covered. The average cumulative increase in barriers across sectors covered by the Index (STRI) was six times lower in 2021...
21
Jan
Today, the EU is requesting consultations with Russia at the World Trade Organization (WTO) concerning export restrictions placed by Russia on wood products. The export restrictions consist of significantly increased export duties on certain wood products and a drastic reduction in the number of border crossing points through which exports of wood products can take place.
The Russian restrictions are highly detrimental to the EU wood processing industry, which relies on exports from Russia, and create significant uncertainty on the...
10
Jan
Pursuant to two Presidential Proclamations, the Section 232 national security tariffs in place with respect to imports of steel and aluminum articles from member countries of the EU (that are melted and poured in the EU in the case of steel) have been eliminated with respect to quantities specified in new tariff rate quotas. Imports of aluminum articles must be accompanied by a certificate of analysis. Imports of EU steel and aluminum articles in excess of the new tariff...
06
Dec
A group of 67 World Trade Organization (WTO) members, including the EU, have today concluded negotiations on a landmark agreement to cut red tape in services trade. The so-called Joint Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation will simplify unnecessarily complicated regulations and ease procedural hurdles faced by SMEs in particular. This agreement will help reduce the costs of global services trade by more than USD 150 billion every year.
This is the first WTO deliverable in the area of trade in...
15
Nov
The Deal
In January 2018 the Trump administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum by invoking Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. This is a Cold War-era law that authorized the president to impose tariffs and other trade restrictions upon a determination that targeted goods are being imported into the United States “in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten or impair the national security.” Then-President Trump imposed these tariffs on steel and aluminum products following an investigation and...
02
Nov
European Commission President von der Leyen and United States President Biden agreed today to start discussions on a Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium. This marks a new milestone in the transatlantic relationship, and in EU-US efforts to achieve the decarbonisation of the global steel and aluminium industries in the fight against climate change. The two Presidents also agreed to pause the bilateral World Trade Organization disputes on steel and aluminium. This builds on our recent successes in...
01
Nov
On October 31, 2021, the U.S. and the EU announced steps to, among other things, reestablish historical transatlantic trade flows in steel and aluminum and address shared challenges in the steel and aluminum sector.
Among the concrete steps to be taken are the following:
1. Replacement of Section 232 tariffs with tariff-rate quotas (TRQ).
Effective January 1, 2022, the United States will replace the existing tariffs on EU steel and aluminum products under Section 232 with TRQs. Under the TRQ arrangement, historically-based...
01
Nov
What is the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium?
The arrangement is intended to facilitate the decarbonising of the steel and aluminium industries, as well as addressing the issue of overcapacity in these industries caused by non-market practices in some economies.
The EU and US have agreed to start discussions on this Arrangement as soon as possible, and conclude them within two years. We want to make this Arrangement open to all like-minded economies.
How will the Arrangement help achieve decarbonisation?
Each...