European Union Director General for Trade Sabine Weyand said the EU has made another offer to settle the Boeing-Airbus dispute. “There's a lot we need to do to calm down the tensions in our relationship,” she said during a Sept. 15 webinar hosted by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She pointed to the deal on lobster tariffs as good but small. “It's the first tariff liberalization we have done in 20 years” between the U.S. and EU, she noted.

The United Kingdom and Japan agreed Sept. 11 to a free trade accord that will reduce Japanese tariffs on a range of U.K. agricultural products and benefit exporters of Japanese cars and auto parts. The U.K. said the deal, the first major trade agreement for it as a nation independent of the European Union, will eliminate tariffs on 99% of exports to Japan.

China and Norway have made “remarkable progress” on certain aspects of a potential free trade agreement and hope to speed up negotiations, China’s Ministry of Commerce said Sept. 11, according to an unofficial translation of a news release. In virtual talks Sept. 11, the two sides discussed increasing trade, trade remedies, e-commerce, intellectual property concerns, customs issues and technical trade barriers, China said. China’s ministry said both countries believe in “speeding up” negotiations to help strengthen global supply chains amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Market access negotiations needed to return India to the Generalized System of Preferences benefits program may be mostly “sorted out,” India's Economy Minister Piyush Goyal said in a speech to the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum Sept. 1. His office summarized some points about the deal, which was described as foundational, in a series of tweets. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “and I agreed that we can look finalising before the election, but otherwise soon after the election,” he said. “The entire package is nearly ready and can be finalised at any time. India is open to signing tomorrow on what we have agreed on.”

Chinese and Russian officials want to expand trade and supply chain cooperation, with both sides emphasizing trade in agricultural goods, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Aug. 25, according to an unofficial translation of a news release. China wants to “deepen cooperation” with Russia in the “entire soybean industry chain,” and Russia said it is “willing to further expand exports of agricultural products to China,” the notice said. The countries also said they want to establish a “Sino-Russian soybean industry alliance.”

The European Union will modernize trade agreements in the Pan-European-Mediterranean region to make rules of origin more flexible and “business friendly,” the European Commission said Aug. 24. The origin rules for certain products will be “easier to meet,” the EU said in a guidance, adding that the deal will now include higher thresholds for the use of non-originating goods and will lift prohibitions on duty-drawbacks. The changes will also ease logistics and customs procedures by allowing for electronic versions of “origin proofs.” The new measures will apply to trade deals with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian territories, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo.

China is increasing imports of U.S. oil ahead of an expected meeting between U.S. and Chinese trade officials to review compliance with the phase one trade deal (see 2008170022), Bloomberg reported Aug. 18. Up to 14 million barrels of U.S oil will be delivered to China next month, the report said, more than twice the volumes set for August. The oil shipments would fill seven “super-class tankers,” the report said. Earlier this month, a Reuters report noted that energy purchases by China were falling far short -- at only 5% of the targeted $25.3 billion in energy products -- of the agreed commitment through the first half of the year (see 2008040023).

U.S. and Chinese trade officials postponed a virtual meeting that was to be held on Saturday, Aug. 15, and was expected to include a review of the implementation of the phase one trade deal, an Aug. 14 Reuters report said. The meeting was delayed due to “scheduling conflicts” and to allow China more time to purchase U.S. goods, Reuters said. The two sides haven't set a new date, it said. The White House and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not comment. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to comment during an Aug. 17 news conference.

Taiwan wants to begin negotiations on a free trade deal with the U.S., Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said Aug. 12, in a speech for think tanks the Hudson Institute and the Center for American Progress. The president said a trade deal with the U.S. is among her priorities during her second term, saying it will help increase Taiwan’s supply chain security.

The U.S. and the United Kingdom completed a “positive” third round of trade negotiations, carried out over the past two weeks ended Aug. 7, and agreed to begin the fourth round next month, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said in a notice Aug. 12. The negotiations included discussions on technical barriers to trade, rules of origin and trade remedies. U.K. Trade Secretary Liz Truss, in separate discussions, focused on U.S. retaliatory tariffs on U.K. products, including on Scotch whisky, the notice said. Truss said the tariffs are “unacceptable and continued to push for their immediate removal.” The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not immediately comment.