The World Trade Organization's published agenda for the Dispute Settlement Body's Feb. 24 meeting includes a request from China to establish a panel in its dispute against Turkey's measures on electric vehicles and other types of vehicles from China.
Ethiopia reaffirmed its commitment to "accelerating its accession process" to the World Trade Organization with aims to conclude talks by the 14th Ministerial Conference in March 2026, the WTO announced. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and the country's steering committee on WTO access at the African Union Summit on Feb. 16 to discuss ramping up accession negotiations, the WTO said.
Taiwan formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies Feb. 18, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 90. The WTO needs 21 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.
The Philippines opened a safeguard investigation on corrugating medium, a component of some cardboard types, on Feb. 13, the World Trade Organization announced. The Philippines said that interested parties should submit comments on the investigation to the Bureau of Import Services within five days of the publication of its notice, i.e., Feb. 18.
A World Trade Organization dispute panel issued its report in Vietnam's challenge to U.S. antidumping duty proceedings on fish fillets from Vietnam after both sides agreed to a solution (see 2501230022). The panel concluded the proceeding in light of the "mutually agreed solution." Vietnam brought the suit in 2018 to challenge the U.S. government's imposition of AD cash deposit requirements in the fifth, sixth and seventh reviews of the AD order, covering entries in 2007-2010. Vietnam claimed that the U.S. should have revoked the order following the seventh review and that the U.S. unlawfully used a country-wide AD rate based on adverse facts available against respondents that were not individually investigated.
South Africa has launched a safeguard investigation on corrosion-resistant steel coil, the South African government told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards. The investigation started Jan. 17 and covers "certain flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel" and "certain flat-rolled products of other alloy steel." South Africa said interested parties should make themselves known within 20 days of the start of the investigation.
Panama appealed a World Trade Organization dispute ruling on its restrictions covering strawberries, pineapples, bananas, plantains and dairy and meat products from Costa Rica "into the void," effectively ending the dispute due to the lack of a functioning Appellate Body. Panama told the Dispute Settlement Body of its decision to appeal the ruling during its Jan. 24 meeting. Last month, a dispute panel said Panama's phytosanitary restrictions violated the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and were "more trade-restrictive than required to achieve Panama's" appropriate level of protection, given that alternatives proposed by Costa Rica were "reasonably available," achieved the appropriate protection level and were less trade-restrictive (see 2412050051).
The World Trade Organization's published agenda for the Dispute Settlement Body's Jan. 27 meeting includes a request from China to establish a panel in its dispute against Turkey's measures on electric vehicles and other types of vehicles from China.
The EU requested consultations with China at the World Trade Organization, alleging that China has empowered its courts to set worldwide royalty rates for EU standard essential patents, without the consent of the patent owner. The EU alleged that the measures violate Article 64.1 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and Article XXII:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.
The U.S. and Vietnam agreed to resolve a long-running dispute on U.S. antidumping duty proceedings on fish fillets from Vietnam. The dispute was originally brought in 2018 to challenge the proceedings as being in violation of the WTO antidumping agreement. In particular, Vietnam challenged the U.S. government's imposition of AD cash deposit requirements in the fifth, sixth and seventh reviews of the AD order, covering entries in 2007-2010. Vietnam claimed that the U.S, should have revoked the order following the seventh review and that the U.S. unlawfully used a country-wide AD rate based on adverse facts available against respondents that were not individually investigated.