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OECD Report Says China Will Suffer More Than US Will in Trade War
November 26, 2018 by Mara Lee|International Sources

China will be hurt more than the U.S. by their trade war, but growth will be dampened in both countries, according to a recent report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD forecasts that the Chinese GDP will drop by .5 percentage point if the current U.S. tariffs that are set to rise from 10 percent to 25 percent do so on Jan. 1; it will drop by 1 percentage point if tariffs are levied by the U.S. on all Chinese exports. And, business uncertainty could cause a drop of 1.3 percentage points, the Nov. 21 report suggested.

EU Proposes Reforms to WTO Appellate Body
November 26, 2018 |International Sources

The EU and 11 other countries plan to present a proposal to reform the World Trade Organization's Appellate Body, the European Commission said in a news release. The U.S. has prevented appointments to the appellate body in recent years, leaving it without the required minimum of judges. "The appellate body function of the WTO dispute settlement system is moving towards a cliff's edge," EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom said. "Without this core function of the WTO, the world would lose a system that has ensured stability in global trade for decades. Now, together with a broad coalition of WTO members, we are presenting our most concrete proposals yet for WTO reform. I hope that this will contribute to breaking the current deadlock, and that all WTO members will take responsibility equally, engaging in good faith in the reform process." The proposal from the EU, Australia, Canada, China, Iceland, India, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and Switzerland is scheduled to be presented at a Dec. 12 WTO meeting, it said. The proposal includes new rules for outgoing appellate judges and efficiency improvements, it said.

EU Seeking Public Input on Development of Customs Single Window
November 26, 2018 |International Sources

The EU opened a "public consultation to inform a study for a possible new initiative to develop a single window environment for customs," it said in its newsletter dated Nov. 26. The effort is meant to "provide the stakeholders involved in the cross-border movement of goods and the wider public with the opportunity to express their views on all elements covered by the impact assessment: problem definition and respective drivers/root causes; the issue of subsidiarity and the added value of an EU level intervention; preliminary options for measures/policy packages; likely impacts of each option," the EU said on its survey page. The results will be used by the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union to help make decisions about the initiative, the EU said. The consultation is open until Jan. 17, it said.