WTO members set themselves a target of July this year for finalising negotiations on a plurilateral deal on investment facilitation. This week participants tried to define a path towards meeting the challenging deadline.
Author: Chris Horseman
Week in London: Falconer’s CPTPP vision, potato seeds, Chinese glass fibre and steel
Here the latest on the UK trade policy beat.
WTO: Chairs confirmed for agriculture and fisheries negotiations
A major roadblock to progress at the next WTO ministerial meeting has been overcome with the appointment of chairs to oversee the negotiating groups on fisheries and agriculture. The WTO announced on Friday (27 January) that Einar Gunnarsson, ambassador of Iceland, had been appointed as the new chair of the …
Comment: Badenoch’s top five priorities for UK trade – a reality check
Kemi Badenoch took a brave step in spelling out a trade strategy and some concrete targets for the United Kingdom. But how realistic are the goals set?
UK carbon border tax now seen as inevitable as consultations loom
The United Kingdom is planning to follow the EU in setting up a carbon border tax regime to offset the risk of trade diversion for carbon-intensive products. But business groups believe it will be some time before details of the proposed British scheme are released.
WTO: Countdown to MC13 begins after Davos
Trade ministers from around the world have “stressed their commitment” to delivering a successful outcome at next year’s WTO ministerial conference in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.
Trade minister coalition on climate launched at Davos summit
An inclusive forum which ‘joins the dots’ on economic policy and climate change: this is the ambition of a new climate-focused coalition of trade ministers launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday (19 January). Spearheaded by a diverse team of co-leads – namely the EU, Kenya, …
Week in London: Steel safeguard and sanction policy reviews
A week dedicated to policy reviews.
EU – US post-Brexit agriculture quota reallocation deal edges closer to implementation
USTR Katherine’s Tai’s stopover in Brussels this week resulted not only in the relaunch of the TTC process, but also in the signature of a long-sought deal to partially reallocate the division of EU tariff rate quotas between the United Kingdom and the EU27 – almost two years after the …
Northern Ireland: EU, UK agree to further ‘scoping’
The EU and UK have poured cold water over earlier hopes of a substantive breakthrough in the ongoing EU-UK negotiations over the Northern Ireland protocol. Suggestions that the two sides might be in a position to set out a detailed ‘roadmap’ for end-stage negotiations over the implementation of the Northern …
