A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry criticized the report of the House Select Committee on Competition with the Chinese Communist Party (see 2312120004), released Dec. 12, saying "some in the US are attempting to politicize and weaponize trade and tech issues between China and the US. We firmly oppose this," according to a transcript provided in English of a regular press conference in Beijing on Dec. 13.
A former EU director general for the bloc's climate action directorate defended its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, saying it's not designed to protect European heavy industry against imports from lower-cost economies.
A "substantial volume" of apparel made with Uyghur forced labor is entering the EU without restriction, a new Sheffield Hallam University report said. The report, released Dec. 6, studied four Chinese suppliers and focused on how their products were getting into the EU. In all, 39 brands are "at high risk" for sourcing goods made with Uyghur forced labor, including Hugo Boss, Inditex and Skechers.
The World Trade Organization Secretariat, at the UN Summit on Climate Change, recommended that countries lower their import tariffs to increase the uptake of low-carbon technologies, reform environmentally harmful subsidies, facilitate trade to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for idling vehicles at the border, and improve coordination of carbon pricing "to reduce policy fragmentation and compliance costs."
A parliamentary committee on trade in Ottawa says Canada should increase its efforts to reach a suspension agreement on U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty cases against its softwood lumber exports, including by appointing a specific "softwood lumber emissary" and by making the issue a high-level priority when the prime minister speaks to the U.S. president.
Dispute settlement understanding talks among World Trade Organization members has been very "intense," though the large issues remain unresolved, Maria Pagan, deputy U.S. trade representative and chief of mission in the Geneva office, said Nov. 20. Speaking at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on the upcoming 13th Ministerial Conference, Pagan said discussions started by acknowledging the different parties' interests as opposed to putting text on the table and hashing out the deal.
The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise is investigating Zara Canada for alleged use of Uyghur forced labor in the company's supply chain, CORE said. The investigation, which CORE began Nov. 6, comes in response to a complaint filed by 28 civil society organizations in June 2022.
Trade ministers from Japan, the U.S., the EU, the U.K., France, Canada, Germany and Italy said they will work to reach an agreement on World Trade Organization reform "with the view to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024." The binding appellate level of dispute settlement at the WTO has been defunct since late 2019, because the U.S. blocked all appointments to the appellate body.
Despite the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which should put a damper on exports in supply chains of goods that are destined for the U.S., exports from Xinjiang are climbing sharply, by nearly 50%, according to a recent report in the South China Morning Post.
A World Trade Organization panel will review U.S. antidumping duties on oil country tubular goods from Argentina after Argentina's request for a dispute panel was granted by the Dispute Settlement Body, the WTO announced. Argentina's request was the second in its case arguing that the duties violate WTO rules and that the U.S. illegally cumulated imports in assessing injury caused by the subject imports.