Colombia formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on March 19, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 93. The WTO needs 18 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.

Guatemala formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on March 10, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 92. The WTO needs 19 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.

Canada opened a dispute at the World Trade Organization on March 5 to challenge the new U.S.-imposed 25% tariff on all non-energy goods and 10% tariff on energy goods from Canada, claiming that the measure violates the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade "as well as the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement." Canada said that the U.S. measures "appear to be inconsistent with the United States' obligations" under GATT and TFA provisions.

North Macedonia formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on Feb. 28, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 91. The WTO needs 20 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.

World Trade Organization Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard urged WTO members to speed up their formal acceptance of the fisheries agreement "as much as possible" to show a commitment to the "multilateral trading system" and the "sustainability of our oceans," the WTO said. Speaking at the launch of the "OECD Review of Fisheries 2025" report, Ellard said she hopes the deal can be adopted at the UN Ocean Conference in June. Twenty-two more members must ratify the agreement before it can take effect.

The World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body agreed during its Feb. 24 meeting to establish a dispute panel on China's request to review Turkey's measures on electric vehicles and other types of vehicles from China. China's first request for a panel was blocked at the Jan. 27 DSB meeting. Following China's renewed effort to seek a dispute panel, Turkey said it's concerned that "China is making such a request before all possible bilateral consultations are exhausted," since the dispute concerns a "major sector that has been facing strong challenges for many years due to uncompetitive practices, subsidization and excess capacity," the WTO said.

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.