The recent Chinese MOFCOM announcement on rare earth and other derivate product export restrictions is a HUGE deal. It marks a major escalation. In June, at the @ForumNewEconomy summit I highlighted this possibility... why is it a big deal? Let me give an example...

China's Ministry of Transport announced today special port fees on ships owned or operated by US enterprises, organizations and individuals from October 14, 2025. Source: xxgk.mot.gov.cn/2020/jigou/s... (Automatic translation from the Chinese)

EU/US Trade Relations The European Union has signaled it won't give in to pressure from Washington to tear up its green rules in order to firm up a deal on tariffs, the bloc’s top trade official has told member countries. 1/2 www.politico.eu/article/eu-t...

Next week the US will impose 25% tariffs on cabinets & sofas - for "national security." It's insane (& costly & ineffective), but, sadly, par for the course. My latest: "Trump’s New Furniture Tariffs Are (Almost) Everything Wrong with U.S. Trade Policy Today" thedispatch.com/newsletter/c...

Over-optimistic UK briefings on how quickly an SPS deal can be agreed meet the reality of a very cautious EU that think existing arrangements show a lot more work is needed before they can trust food and drink coming from Great Britain. www.ft.com/content/7238...

Brussels has warned the UK that it must fulfil its commitment to check goods entering Northern Ireland before a full-scale deal to scrap controls on food and animal trade with the EU is signed. 1/3 www.ft.com/content/7238...

The UK prepares to realign with EU animal & plant health rules — known as SPS measures — under the terms of the UK-EU ‘reset’ deal. This would effectively mean readopting EU citrus controls, which have become even stricter in the intervening years since Brexit. 1/3 www.politico.eu/article/uk-e...

Citrus growers in South Africa are celebrating a landmark export season, packing more fruit than ever before. This is in spite of trade restrictions in key markets like the EU and the United States, which continue to test the industry’s resilience. 1/3 www.thesouthafrican.com/news/sa-citr...

After Carney and Trump's meeting at the White House, Canadian and U.S. officials have been tasked with "quickly" reaching agreements on steel, aluminum and energy before moving on to other trade issues. This is what U.S. tariffs currently look like for Canada: www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

Just to clarify my quick reaction to the legality of the EU's new steel measure. Renegotiating tariffs pursuant to Art XXVIII GATT procedures is not illegal -- indeed, it's an efficient way to address changed circumstances. Is it a sound basis for selective discrimination? No.

US-EU regulatory battles have been a feature of relations for 25 years and the actions (and over-reach) of the last Commission were setting up a new clash even without the Trump effect. Hard to tell where this leads except to further weaken the global influence of both.

AI goods and frontloading lift world trade in 2025 but outlook dims for 2026 #WTOStats #GlobalTrade #WTOPublications

UK's industry minister Chris McDonald on EU steel tariff plans: "We will always defend our critical steel industry, which is why we are pushing the European Commission for urgent clarification of the impact of this move on the UK." Source: www.kentonline.co.uk/news/nationa...

Bad luck for GB steel, as a "FTA partner", but Northern Ireland will get special treatment thanks to the Good Friday and Windsor Agreements (which would end should the UK denounce the ECHR):

Šefčovič on the proposal to protect the EU steel sector from unfair impacts of global steel overcapacity: "We remain committed to a rules-based trade system (...) including with key steel-producing countries. But we must also act decisively to defend Europe's interests" ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

I'm not a fan of tariffs, but if you are going to do them, this is an appropriate way under WTO rules.

Eu Commission proposes plan to protect EU steel industry from unfair impacts of global overcapacity. ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

EU proposes to cut import steel quotas in half and double tariffs to 50 percent. We are trying to save the European industry, Commissioner Sejourne said. It will be tough for UK industry which exports 80 percent of its steel to the European Union. #brexit #steel #tariffs #wto

USMCA Will Trump approve a simple USMCA renewal? While Canada and Mexico favor a straightforward renewal, the U.S. is expected to push for broad changes, likely using the threat of tougher tariffs if the pact breaks down as leverage. 1/2 www.politico.com/newsletters/...

general assumption is that forthcoming USMCA “review” will be painful for Canada and Mexico. But does that imply that the treaty will be amended? and does that imply a need for Congressional action? 1/2

US Tariffs on Steel Imports from Canada Partial relief from steel tariffs - which currently sit at 50 % - is the expectation of the Canadian delegation heading to the White House for Tuesday's meeting btw. PM Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to meet in person soon after a friendly video call on Monday, Brazil's government said, boosting prospects for a thaw in bilateral relations that are at their worst in decades. 1/3 www.reuters.com/world/americ...

US Tariffs All medium- and heavy-duty trucks imported into the United States will face a 25 % tariff rate starting Nov. 1, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday, a significant escalation of his effort to protect U.S. companies from foreign competition. 1/3 www.cbc.ca/news/busines...

EU/India Trade Talks Senior officials of India and the EU will commence the next round of talks for a proposed free trade agreement on Monday (October 6, 2025) in Brussels. This will be the 14th round of negotiations between the two sides. www.thehindu.com/business/Eco...

An agreement struck between Britain and the EU in May to reduce friction on the trade of agricultural produce could be implemented within a year with "good political will," EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic told a conference on Thursday. 1/2 www.reuters.com/business/ret...

Europe hunts for chokepoints it can weaponise against China in age of economic warfare My report on the search for leverage against coercion from Beijing and Washington. The elephant in the room: would it take for Brussels to act?

Joint Statement from today's EU-UK Specialised Committee on the Implementation of the Windsor Framework. Work still to be done on 'full, timely and faithful' implementation. More detail than in past statements Value of stakeholder engagement flagged commission.europa.eu/document/dow...

As the UK and EU prepare for detailed negotiations on their common understanding, which will be tricky not least given the usual negotiating approaches, some thoughts are already turning to what will come next - as here from Ignacio Garcia-Bercero encompass-europe.com/comment/the-...

Next meeting of the EU-UK Specialised Committee on the Windsor Framework meets tomorrow, 2 October 2025. Agenda 👇 (same as for previous meeting in June) commission.europa.eu/publications...

In July,Trump announced additional tariffs of 40% on “transshipped” goods globally, aimed at stopping Chinese exporters shipping through third countries with lower tariffs. But in the second quarter, 82% of China’s lost exports to the US have found new markets. hinrichfoundation.com/research/art...

EU trade commissioner says the EU could conclude trade negotiations with Malaysia, Thailand, and Philippines "in the next year". Could be a bumper year with India, plus already concluded talks with Mercosur, Mexico, and Indonesia still to be ratified

A blunt and staggering admission that EU trade policy (US AND non-US) is determined in Washington, not in Brussels and member states capitals.

EU trade chief Sefcovic, speaking at the Atlantic Council event today, says the EU and US are "very soon going to propose the post 2026 safeguard measures" on steel, working with tariff-rate quotas, to deal with "global overcapacity"

US Movie Tariffs: President Trump just announced a 100% tariff on all films produced outside the United States.

"Yet a warmer tone does not mean that substantive disagreements between the two sides have been resolved." ✍️ @jannikewachowiak.bsky.social argues that the UK govt. will likely have to make concessions to the EU on youth mobility to avoid derailing wider negotiations ukandeu.ac.uk/youth-mobili...

A youth mobility deal with the EU will be modestly positive for growth and public finances. However unlikely to offset the negative impact of falling non-EU migration. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The time is ripe for an extensive youth mobility scheme. 'Global Britain' needs citizens who have experienced the benefits, both at home and abroad, of living alongside other peoples and cultures eastangliabylines.co.uk/news/educati...

I can only speak to trade policy, and not the rest of the global economic system, but I want to emphasize that US trade policy has never been remotely close to "a laissez-faire approach."

"Using U.S. tariff data from 2025, the report estimates that Trump’s tariffs drop the United States from 56th to 76th place in the world in terms of freedom to trade and nearly knock the United States out of the top 10 in terms of overall economic freedom." Source ⬇️ www.cato.org/economic-fre...

New US Tariffs / starting October 1st, 2025 ➡️ 100 % on pharmaceutical products (unless a company “is building their pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in America”) ➡️ 25% on all “Heavy Trucks” ➡️ 50% on all kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and associated products ➡️ 30% on upholstered furniture

As so often the headline misleads It's a question of 'may'. And so much depends on each side's priorties, the trade offs they are willing to make and securing the requisite progress across a complex set of parallel negotiations. inews.co.uk/news/politic...

We're immensely proud to publish this special episode recorded live at @wto.org on the state of the multilateral trading system. With Ambassador Guilherme Patriota, @monapaulsen.bsky.social, Kelly Ann Shaw @akingump.com & @chrishorseman.bsky.social #WTOPublicForum 👉 on.soundcloud.com/yqfAGZlsWqeJ...

Borderlex interviewed EU ambassador to the WTO João Aguiar Machado on the state of world trade, EU-US deal, e-commerce, dispute settlement, industrial subsidies, the fish agreement... and it's IN FRONT OF THE PAYWALL! :) borderlex.net/2025/09/22/i...

I’ve done Article XXIV negotiations and that justification was never going to fly. Best that Brussels stick to the truth: the EU fell victim to extortion.

For WTO wonks - The European Commission has now given up trying to justify the deal with the US as being compatible with article 24. “It isn’t credible that we can turn this into an FTA” Sabine Weyand said today. This is a change from what they were saying before

Today, 24 September, Members of the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade (INTA) will exchange with Sabine Weyand, Director-general of DG Trade on the state of play of EU trade policy. www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/e...

A very readable article on the EU/US Trade Agreement. "It is (...) difficult, if not impossible, to say who has won or lost in the agreement between the U.S. and the EU." www.gisreportsonline.com/r/us-eu-trad...

Does the EU have a transparency problem? The EU’s ethics watchdog opened an inquiry on Tuesday into Ursula von der Leyen’s text messages with French President Emmanuel Macron about the bloc’s controversial trade deal with Mercosur countries. www.euractiv.com/news/eu-ethi...

EU/Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) & EU/Indonesia Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) EU Trade Committee (INTA) reactions ⬇️ www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pres...

Story - and signing picture - of the EU-Indonesia trade deal - www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/indones...