The United Kingdom on Nov. 9 published a guidance on the country’s free trade agreement with Ukraine after the U.K. leaves the European Union. The guidance includes information on the trade relationship between the two countries, including tariff rates, rules of origin provisions and intellectual property provisions. The trade agreement is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2021.
The United Kingdom on Nov. 4 updated guidance and provided more information on its recently signed trade deal with Japan (see 2010260007). The new documents include explainers on agriculture and food trade, rules of origin and geographical indications.
The United Kingdom and Kenya on Nov. 3 concluded negotiations on a free trade deal, ensuring duty-free trade after the U.K. leaves the European Union Jan. 1, 2021. The U.K. said it accounts for 43% of Kenya’s total vegetable exports. It said the agreement will be “formally signed shortly once it has been subject to checks.”
The U.S. and the United Kingdom recently completed their most “intensive” round of free trade agreement trade talks and said almost all negotiations are in advanced stages, the U.K. said Nov. 2. The most recent round -- held Oct. 19 to Oct. 30 -- included discussions on market access, product-specific rules of origin and customs. The two sides said they agreed to a “programme for continued talks at official level for the weeks following the U.S. election.” The Office of the U.S Trade Representative did not comment.
The European Union wants to impose duties on $4 billion worth of U.S. imports in retaliation for illegal Boeing subsidies on Nov. 10, a recent Bloomberg report said. Member countries have until Nov. 3 to say which products should be retained on the list. The unnamed official who spoke to Bloomberg reporters said the plan to hike duties one week after the election would happen no matter which candidate wins the election.
China doesn’t comment on U.S. internal affairs such as its presidential election, a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson said Oct. 30 when asked about comments by a Joe Biden aide that the Democratic Party nominee would consult with allies on what to do about the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports if he's elected president. “China's policy on the United States remains highly stable and consistent,” the spokesperson said, according to a transcript of a news conference. “We are committed to developing a China-U.S. relationship featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.” Biden would seek “collective leverage” against China by bonding with allies to curb Beijing's allegedly unfair trade practices, foreign policy adviser Jeffrey Prescott told Reuters Oct. 28. “The failure of the Trump administration has been to go it alone.” Biden won’t “lock into any premature position before we see exactly what we’re inheriting,” Prescott said when asked if Biden would lift the tariffs unilaterally if elected. “Consulting with allies is going to be a central part of that.”
The United Kingdom and Japan officially signed a trade agreement (see 2009110022) that will take effect when the U.K. leaves the European Union Jan. 1, 2021. The U.K. on Oct. 23 issued a summary of benefits for U.K. businesses under the deal and a parliamentary report on maintaining the trade relationship after Brexit. Along with reducing tariffs, the U.K. said the deal addresses items including intellectual property rights, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, dispute settlement and customs facilitation.
Mongolia will officially join the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement in January 2021, benefiting from reduced-tariff trade with China, Bangladesh, India, South Korea, Laos and Sri Lanka, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in an Oct. 26 notice. China said Mongolia will reduce tariffs on 366 items, according to an unofficial translation of the notice, including “aquatic products,” vegetables, fruits, oils, certain chemicals, woods, cotton, yarn and machinery.
The United Kingdom and Taiwan pledged during virtual talks last week to build stronger trade ties and agreed to continue discussing removing barriers in the agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors, the U.K. said Oct. 26. The U.K.’s Department for International Trade said it made “progress” on market access for U.K. lamb in Taiwan and aims to “resolve [other] market access issues between our economies.”
A recent Congressional Research Service report on agricultural gains in the Japan mini-deal said that while it does match the Trans-Pacific Partnership in many ways, there are some significant shortfalls, including products under tariff-rate quotas in the broader multilateral deal that aren't in the mini-deal.