One day after the U.S. published a new set of semiconductor-related export controls aimed at China (see 2412020016), Beijing announced a ban on certain key critical minerals and other dual-use items being shipped to the U.S. for military uses.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has invited Costa Rica to join the pact, Canada said in a statement released Nov. 30. At the eighth CPTPP Commission meeting in Vancouver, the commission agreed to begin the accession process, originally requested by Costa Rica in 2022, noting the Central American country's "history as a supporter of the rules-based trading system, its experience with high-standard trade and investment rules, and [its] affirmation of its intention to comply with the obligations of the CPTPP." The accession process begins with the formation of an Accession Working Group, which will establish a timeline for Costa Rica's membership.

The Canada Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) terminated its review of human rights complaints against Ralph Lauren Canada, the agency announced last week. The company participated in a confidential dispute settlement process with the parties that filed the complaint against the company; in June 2024, the complainants notified CORE of their decision to withdraw the complaint given "satisfactory responses" from Ralph Lauren.

As the leaders of some Canadian provinces have said their country should cut its own deal with the incoming Trump administration because Mexico hasn't aligned with the U.S. to keep Chinese electric vehicles out of its market, the new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters that it's nothing to worry about.

Restrictive trade measures from 20 of the world's leading economies "significantly increased" over the past year, the World Trade Organization found in its 31st Trade Monitoring Report. While the Group of 20 countries also imposed 141 trade facilitating measures, the report said that from October 2023 to October 2024, G20 nations imposed 91 new trade-restrictive measures covering around $828.9 billion worth of goods, up from about $246 billion worth of goods in the last report, which covered restrictions imposed from mid-May to mid-October 2023.

European collaboration with the U.S. on trade-related policies and other issues likely will become more difficult when President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, a former Swedish government official said Nov. 7.

Maros Sefcovic of Slovakia, the EU’s candidate for trade and economic security commissioner, said this week he would “double down” on defending European industry against “increasingly widespread” unfair practices.

The EU will officially impose countervailing duties on electric vehicle imports from China (see 2408200020) despite months of lobbying from Beijing against the new tariffs (see 2410250015), which are meant to address EU concerns around Chinese EV subsidies. The new duties will remain in place for five years and will take effect the day after they’re published in the Official Journal of the EU, expected to be this week.

Canada is studying several policy and legislative options to strengthen its forced labor enforcement, including one that could establish new import traceability requirements for certain goods and another that could require importers to pay all fees associated with imports detained for forced labor.

The EU's Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which could take effect for some companies Dec. 30, may violate World Trade Organization rules and should be modified to ensure it's compliant, according to a new policy brief released by the European Center for International Political Economy (ECIPE).