On 12 July, the WTO announced that Switzerland has requested WTO dispute consultations with the United States regarding US duties on certain imported steel and aluminium products. The request was circulated to WTO members on 12 July. Switzerland claims the US duties of 25% and 10% on imports of steel and aluminium products respectively are inconsistent with provisions of the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and the Agreement on Safeguards. Further…
The WTO announced that Members expressed their concerns over possible measures by the United States regarding extra duties on the import of automobiles, including cars, SUVs, vans, light trucks and automotive parts, at the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) held on 3 and 4 of July. Over 40 members — including the 28 European Union members — took the floor to warn of the “serious disruption” to world markets and the multilateral trading system that may arise as a result of these potential measures, particularly in light of the large proportion of global trade accounted for by these products. The announcement said:
On 25 June 2018, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) held its summer Ministerial meeting in Sauðárkrókur, Iceland, during which the Ministers of the four EFTA States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Ecuador, represented by H.E. Pablo Campana Sáenz, Minister of Foreign Trade of Ecuador. The signing, only two years after the launch of negotiations at the EFTA Ministerial Meeting in Bern in 2016, will strengthen economic relations between the EFTA States and Ecuador and give economic actors on both sides increased trade and investment opportunities.
On 26 April 2018, the Swiss Federal Department of Finance (FDF) Federal Customs Administration (FCA) issued Circular No. 071-16.1 PH R-30 regarding the entry into force on 1 June 2018 of the Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and the Philippines (FTA or Agreement).
On 25 April 2018, the Swiss Federal Council announced that it once again tightened sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) thereby implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2397 (2017). The new provisions entered into force at 6 pm on 25 April. The announcement said:
On 28 March, the Federal Council adopted restrictive measures against Venezuela. As such Switzerland is aligning itself with the sanctions imposed by the EU as a result of human rights violations and the undermining of the rule of law and democratic institutions. The Ordinance on Measures against Venezuela enters into force on 28 March.
On December 27, 2017, the Diario Oficial (Official Gazette) published the US Dollar and national money (Peso) thresholds for government procurements subject to free trade agreements. The Secretary of Public Function notified the amounts in Office No. UNCP/309/ TU/786/2017. The amounts are in effect from January 1, 2018 through June 30, 2018.
On 18 October 2017, taking effect at 6pm CET, the Swiss Federal Council further tightened sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), implementing UN Security Council Resolutions 2371 (2017) and 2375 (2017). As a consequence of the North Korean rocket tests on 3 and 28 July and the nuclear test on 2 September this year, in contravention of all previous UN Security Council Resolutions, on 5 August 2017 the UN Security Council issued Resolution 2371 (2017), closely followed by Resolution 2375 on 11 September 2017, tightening considerably the sanctions already imposed on North Korea.
On August 14, 2017, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the Federal Register a general notice [CBP Dec. No. 17-09] that announces that CBP is expanding eligibility for Global Entry to include citizens of the Republic of Colombia, citizens of the Republic of Singapore, and citizens of Switzerland.
On June 29, 2017, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), in conjunction with the Department of Commerce (DoC) , published in the Federal Register a request for comments [Docket No. USTR–2017–0010] that they will consider as part of the comprehensive performance reviews required by Executive Order 13796 of April 29, 2017)