The European Union has assembled a list of approximately $20 billion worth of imports from the U.S. that could face higher tariffs if a World Trade Organization arbitrator rules that the EU is entitled to that much compensation due to trade-distorting subsidies for Boeing's aircraft manufacturing.
The European Commission created a list of about $20 billion in U.S. imports that it could raise duties on, according to an April 12 report from Reuters. The potential tariffs stem from a World Trade Organization dispute between the U.S. and the European Union over aircraft subsidies given Boeing. The U.S. had previously identified $11 billion in European imports that could be targets of retaliatory tariffs if the World Trade Organization authorizes that level of compensation in a similar WTO dispute over subsidies for Airbus (see 1904090057).
The European Council approved a negotiating mandate for trade talks with the U.S., but says it will not finish a free-trade agreement until the steel and aluminum tariffs on its member countries are lifted. The mandate, which was approved April 15, excludes agricultural trade from the talks.
A new single market covering most of Africa is now set to take effect, but several roadblocks remain in the way before full implementation, according to an alert from the British law firm Freshfields. The Gambia became the 22nd country to ratify the agreement April 2, triggering the 22-country threshold for the agreement coming into force 30 days after all 22 ratifications are filed with the African Union. The planned single market and eventual customs union has been signed by 52 African countries, although the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria, declined to join. Despite some optimism surrounding the agreement, which reportedly could double trade within Africa if tariffs are eliminated and non-tariff barriers are reduced, there’s still some work to be done. A schedule of tariff concessions still needs to be developed, as do annexes on trade in services, among other parts of the agreement. The remaining portions are “expected to be concluded by 2020,” the alert said.
The United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade on April 12 posted details of its recently concluded trade continuity agreements with Norway and Iceland, as well as two letters on temporary treatment for Norwegian and Icelandic products after Brexit. The agreements, which take effect in the event the U.K. leaves the European Union with no transition deal in place, would keep tariffs at current levels rather than most-favored nation rates.
The Mexico Secretariat of Economy issued two notices April 10 amending the Mexican tariff schedule and making related changes to the PROSEC sectoral promotion and IMMEX maquiladora programs. Notably, the notices reverse tariff cuts previously implemented for footwear, textiles and apparel in February. The changes were detailed in two circulars issued by the Mexican Confederation of Customs Broker Associations (CAAAREM) the following day and posted by Mexican consultancy AJR Foreign Trade.
A Senate bill with bipartisan support would require the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Turkish officials, according to a press release from the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The bill, the Defending United States Citizens and Diplomatic Staff from Political Prosecutions Act, was introduced April 9 by Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Ben Cardin, D-Md. It would sanction senior Turkish officials responsible for the detention of several American citizens over the last few years, including scientist Serkan Golge and pastor Andrew Brunson. “Our bill makes clear that the United States will not tolerate years of Turkish recalcitrance on these cases,” Cardin said in a statement. “Officials in the [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan regime responsible for these crimes must be held accountable under Global Magnitsky standards for their ongoing injustices.”
The European Union filed a dispute with the World Trade Organization on April 2 over India’s “excess” duty rates for goods in the information and communications technology sector. The EU said India is levying tariffs on a range of products that should have no tariffs, including semiconductors, electrical transformers, telephone sets, microphones, circuits, wire and measuring instruments. The rates on those products “clearly exceed the bound rate” of 0 percent set in India’s Schedule of Concessions and Commitments implemented after the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the EU said. The tariff rates are “inconsistent with India's obligations” in the WTO, the EU said in its request for consultations.
The U.S. Grains Council is asking China to eliminate antidumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on American distillers grains, according to a report from Reuters. China’s Ministry of Commerce will review the request and the tariffs on the grains, an animal feed ingredient, according to the report.
The EU is starting preparations on a list of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods that would take effect after a World Trade Organization arbitrator rules in a dispute over U.S. subsidies for Boeing civil aircraft, a European Commission spokesman said. That arbitrator will tell the EU how much it is allowed to retaliate for the subsidies, the spokesman said, speaking after the U.S. released its own list of proposed retaliatory tariffs on EU goods in a similar WTO dispute on EU subsidies for Airbus (see 1904090057). The EU is open to discussing both disputes with the U.S., he said.