On 8 November 2019, the European Commission announced that EU Member States endorsed the trade agreement between the EU and Singapore allowing the EU’s first agreement with a Southeast Asian country to enter into force as soon as 21 November. According to the announcement: Singapore is by far the EU’s largest trading partner in the Southeast Asian region, with total bilateral trade in goods of over €53 billion and another €51 billion of trade in…
On October 24, 2019, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register an invitation for applications [Docket No. USTR-2019-0018] from eligible individuals wishing to be included on the roster of individuals to serve on binational panels convened to review final determinations in antidumping or countervailing duty (AD/CVD) proceedings and amendments to AD/CVD statutes of a NAFTA Party for the period April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021. The United States…
On 24 August 2019, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) announced that delegations from Member States of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and of Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) convened in Buenos Aires on 20 to 23 August to continue their talks on a broad-based free trade agreement. This tenth round allowed the Parties to conclude the negotiations in substance in all areas. Note by the EFTA Secretariat states:…
On 2 October, 2019, in Mauritius, the EU started negotiations with five Eastern and Southern Africa partners (so-called ESA: Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe) to deepen the existing Economic Partnership Agreement. Given the positive results generated by the current agreement, now in its 8th year of implementation, the five countries have declared their readiness to move beyond trade in goods, towards a more comprehensive agreement. The EU has welcomed this step, especially in the context of…
On September 25, 2019, he Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the United States and Japan have reached agreement on early achievements from negotiations in the areas of market access for certain agriculture and industrial goods, as well as on digital trade. USTR stated that the United States looks forward to further negotiations with Japan for a comprehensive agreement that addresses remaining tariff and non-tariff barriers and achieves fairer, more balanced trade. …
On 24 September 2019, the UK Supreme Court, in a unanimous judgment, held that he advice given by the Prime Minister to Her Majesty the Queen on 27th or 28th August, that Parliament should be prorogued from a date between 9th and 12th September until 14th October, was unlawful. In a landmark case, the court held that it had the authority to review whether the Prime Minister’s advice to Her Majesty was lawful. It also…
On September 19, 2019, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that it intends to seek environment consultations with Korea under the Environment Chapter of the United States – Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). The announcement said: Today’s announcement follows the release of the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) biennial report to Congress identifying nations for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, pursuant to the Moratorium Protection Act (MPA). In its report,…
On 4 September 2019, the House of Commons passed a Bill (327 in favor to 299 against) that requires the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to seek an extension from the EU if he cannot obtain a withdrawal agreement by 19 October. The extension would effectively preclude a “no-deal” Brexit and ensure continuity. The House of Lords passed the Bill on a voice vote on 6 September 2019, after defeating an amendment (283-28) that would have…
On August 6, 2019, the International Trade Administration (ITA), Department of Commerce, published in the Federal Register a final rule [Docket No. 180223210–8210–01] that removes the regulations (15 C.F.R. part 315) implementing the Automotive Products Trade Act of 1965, Public Law 89–283 (Act). That statute implemented the 1965 Canada-United States Automotive Products Agreement (Auto Pact). Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into effect in 1994, trade in automotive products between the United…
On July 29, 2019, the Diario Oficial de la Federacion (the official Federal Gazette) published the Presidential Decree approving the Protocol replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement with the Treaty between the United Mexican States, the United States of America and Canada, made in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 30 of two thousand eighteen, as well as the six parallel agreements between the Government of the United Mexican States and the Government of the…