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).

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao urged U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo this week to lift U.S. semiconductor export restrictions against China (see 2211010042 and 2302020034) and reverse its proposed import restrictions on Chinese connected vehicles (see 2409220001), saying the two countries need to reach a clearer understanding around their national security-related trade policies.

Canada’s Standing Committee on International Trade last week voted against delaying until April the implementation of the Canada Border Services Agency’s new Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system, setting up the new system to go live as planned on Oct. 21, the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America said in a message to its members. The committee, part of Canada’s House of Commons, struck down the motion 6-5, the NCBFAA said.

The European Commission is proposing to delay its upcoming deforestation reporting requirements by one year to allow member states and third-country exporters to be better prepared and “fully establish the necessary due diligence systems” for all products covered by the new rules. The law is scheduled to take effect for most companies Dec. 30 and for small companies June 30, but the commission is proposing to extend those dates to Dec. 30, 2025, and June 30, 2026, respectively.

With de minimis imports to the EU climbing to about $8.5 billion worth of goods from January to August this year, the European Commission is considering either changing its de minimis threshold or tackling the surge of Chinese exports in this channel in another way, the South China Morning Post reported from Brussels. That value of de minimis imports increased 61% compared with two years earlier, the newspaper said.

Beijing “firmly opposes” a proposed rule issued by the U.S. this week that could ban imports of certain connected vehicles made with certain hardware or software from China (see 2409220001), saying it has “no factual basis, violates the principles of market economy and fair competition, and is a typical protectionist practice.”