Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng said her government has filed notice that it is bringing a state-to-state dispute under USMCA over the increase in antidumping and countervailing duties on most Canadian softwood lumber exports. The Commerce Department issued the final results of the reviews in November (see 2112020026).
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Japan's trade minister and the European Union's trade commissioner said their staffs will be working to identify problems caused by non-market practices, to identify gaps in existing enforcement tools and to think about what work is needed to develop rules to address trade-distorting non-market practices. Japan, the EU and the U.S. will also discuss cooperating on using existing trade remedies. The three nations were supposed to have met on the sidelines of the World Trade Organization's 12th Ministerial Conference, but had to meet virtually because of its postponement (see 2111300028). Their joint statement also said that WTO reform is important.
After Switzerland banned flights from Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, the World Trade Organization had to postpone the 12th Ministerial Conference that was due to start Nov. 30. A news release from Nov. 26 quoted Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala saying that the travel restrictions would have put delegations from Southern Africa at a disadvantage. "She pointed out that many delegations have long maintained that meeting virtually does not offer the kind of interaction necessary for holding complex negotiations on politically sensitive issues," the release said.
ITC Can Protect Trademarks, Not Just Patents, Panel Says; Also Hope for Anti-Counterfeit Legislation
With too many small packages to inspect, and Instagram and other social media influencers promoting knockoffs, fashion brands are dealing with a challenging environment. But panelists on a Crowell & Moring webinar Oct. 26 called "The Year of the Knockoff" found some reason for hope.
Alan Wolff, a former deputy director-general at the World Trade Organization, called on China to join the WTO Pharmaceutical Agreement, play a constructive role in the fisheries negotiations, and lead in restarting the Environmental Goods Agreement.
Heavy truck parts destined for a U.S. assembly plant cannot qualify for USMCA benefits under tariff shift rules, CBP told Mitsubishi Electric's Automotive division. Under USMCA, the original equipment starter must have 60% North American content under a net cost method, or 70% under a transaction value method; that percentage will go up in July 2024 to 64% or 74%, respectively, and 70% or 80% in 2027.
Tariff rate quotas of 30% imposed in 2018 under a global safeguard tariff against solar cells and solar panels were legal under international trade law, a panel at the World Trade Organization announced. The Section 201 tariffs fell to 25%, then 20%, and were supposed to fall to 15% in 2021, but are at 18% instead (see 1711010040 and 2010130028).
In an unusual move, China has been granted its request for a compliance panel at the World Trade Organization for the dispute between it and the U.S. over how China administers its wheat, rice and corn tariff rate quotas (see 2107160054 and 1904180020).
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said there is now political support to move forward on an agreement to curb subsidies that lead to overfishing. The draft text has been blessed by all the heads of delegations in Geneva, she said in a news conference July 15.
Top trade officials from Europe, Japan and North America emphasized problematic economic behavior in China, without mentioning the world's second-largest economy by name, at the end of the G-7 meeting of trade ministers.