The U.S. requested consultations at the World Trade Organization with China last week concerning China's safeguard investigation on imported beef, which was opened in December 2024 and has been twice extended. Most recently, China's Ministry of Commerce extended the investigation through Jan. 26 (see 2511250038).
China filed a request for consultations at the World Trade Organization about Indian tariffs on information and communication technology products and subsidy measures for high efficiency solar photovoltaic modules, the WTO said Dec. 23.
World Trade Organization members on Dec. 19 agreed to let the EU impose countermeasures on imports from the U.S. due to U.S. violations of WTO rules in its antidumping duty and countervailing duty proceedings on Spanish ripe olives, the WTO announced.
Taiwan opened dispute consultations with Canada at the World Trade Organization regarding Canada's tariff rate quotas and surtax on certain steel goods and its global duty on certain steel derivative goods, the WTO announced. The consultations request formally opens a WTO dispute and gives the parties 60 days to resolve it, after which it will be sent to adjudication before a panel.
Delegations to the World Trade Organization understand that if the WTO doesn't reform, things will get worse, rather than holding steady, according to Petter Olberg, Norway’s ambassador to the WTO and the man facilitating reform discussions.
The U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization published a blunt response to reform discussions, arguing that the underpinning of the WTO -- that all countries should receive the same tariff rate, unless there is a comprehensive free-trade agreement between them -- was naive, "and that era has passed."
China requested dispute consultations at the World Trade Organization last week with India, regarding the latter's incentives in the automotive and renewable energy sectors, the WTO announced.
A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel found last week that Colombia has failed to comply with the findings of an arbitration panel regarding the nation's antidumping duties on frozen fries from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
The EU and Uzbekistan concluded their bilateral negotiations on market access to services and goods, which the EU touted as a "significant milestone in Uzbekistan's accession to the World Trade Organization," the European Commission announced. The bilateral trade deal includes Uzbekistan's commitments on "maximum tariff rates for import and export of goods" and the nation's concessions in services. The commitments will be "embodied in the future Protocol of Accession of Uzbekistan to the WTO," the commission said. The EU and Uzbekistan also signed the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement on Oct. 24, which boosts bilateral cooperation across trade and investment issues, the commission said.
Vietnam has agreed to join the World Trade Organization's Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), the European Commission said. The MPIA, which has been championed by the EU as an alternative to the defunct Appellate Body, now includes 58 WTO members, including China, Japan and the U.K. The European Commission said the MPIA "supports rules-based trade, and each new adhesion increases the stability of multilateral trading relations."