World Trade Organization (WTO)

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The conclusion of the World Trade Organization’s (“WTO”) 13th ministerial meeting (“MC13”) this past Friday, March 1st, saw the extension of the so-called e-commerce moratorium until the next ministerial conference in two years, at which point it will permanently expire unless another agreement is reached. The moratorium, which suspends customs duties on…

The European Union has filed a legal challenge before the World Trade Organization against China’s use of “anti-suit injunctions” (ASIs) to restrict EU holders from enforcing standard-essential patents against Chinese companies in any non-Chinese court. The EU’s request for the establishment of a WTO panel challenges Chinese court-issued ASIs as they “forbid patent holders to…

On August 24, the European Commission (“Commission”) made public its intent to implement the recommendation and ruling from the World Trade Organization (“WTO”), and bring the safeguard measure on certain steel products (“Steel Safeguards”) into conformity with the WTO Agreement on Safeguards and the GATT 1994.

The Commission also invited interested parties to submit comments…

On May 26, 2021, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) proposed new measures to address forced labor on fishing vessels as part of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) agreement on curbing harmful fisheries subsidies. The negotiations, which began last year were delayed due to COVID-19. Negotiations restarted in April of 2021 with WTO Director-General Ngozi…

On February 25, the Senate Finance Committee held a confirmation hearing for the nominee for the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Katherine Tai. Tai’s strong performance in the hearing demonstrated her poise and a depth of knowledge on the issues. She was well-prepared for Senators’ questions and is likely to receive a swift confirmation in the…

On February 11, 2021, the Biden Administration decided not to increase tariffs against the European Union. In a Federal Register notice released today (Feb 12th), the Administration announced that “The U.S. Trade Representative together with the affected United States industry have agreed that it is unnecessary at this time to revise the action…

On February 8, 2021, a WTO dispute resolution panel notified parties that it would delay it’s ruling on the United States’ Section 232 tariffs until the second half of 2021. The tariffs, which were imposed on the basis of national security, received complaints from China, India, Norway, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the European Union. The…

In response to recent action by the European Union in the Large Civil Aircraft (Boeing-Airbus) Dispute in the World Trade Organization (“WTO”), the United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) has announced the inclusion of additional products to the list of EU goods subject to Section 301 tariffs.

Section 301 tariffs will apply to specified additional products…

On November 1, 2019, the World Trade Organization (WTO) granted China clearance to levy $3.5 billion of duties on U.S. goods in response to a WTO case where China challenged a wide-range of U.S. anti-dumping duties. The U.S. initially placed anti-dumping duties on China in an effort to fight cheap Chinese goods from flooding the …

On October 9, 2019, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a Federal Register notice informing that additional duties on products from certain member States of the EU will take effect starting at 12:01 a.m. on October 18, 2019. This action comes after the USTR determined that the EU and certain member …