The U.K. this week said Mexico has agreed to remove a trade barrier on British pork and will begin approving shipments from 12 pork exporters across England and Northern Ireland, marking Britain's “successful bid to secure long-term access to this lucrative market.” The announcement follows eight years of negotiations between Mexican and U.K. authorities. The British businesses will now be able to export offal and edible by-products to Mexico, the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade said. The U.K. also noted that the current 20% tariff on British pork will be eliminated once Mexico ratifies the U.K.’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (see 2312290034).

The European Commission this week published an explainer about the energy purchase commitments it agreed to under its trade deal with the U.S., which calls for EU purchases of $750 billion worth of U.S. liquified natural gas and other energy over the next three years (see 2507280027). The commission said it expects that increased imports of American energy will help it "fully replace all Russian energy imports," and stressed that U.S. companies must ensure "unrestricted access and sufficient production and export capacity."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters in Stockholm, Sweden, that the Chinese delegation spoke too early when they said the two sides agreed to another 90 days at current tariff levels, because the president is the one to decide. However, in a later interview with CNBC, Bessent said the meetings had been "highly satisfactory."

The U.K. and India announced plans last week to officially sign their new free trade deal (see 2505070036), which is expected to reduce tariffs for a range of goods and make it "easier and cheaper" for British companies to buy India's "best products," the U.K. said. The prime minister's office also said India’s average tariff on U.K. products will drop from 15% to 3%, saying whiskey producers will especially benefit from duties being "slashed in half," with further reductions over the next 10 years. The two sides signed a host of side letters under the agreement, and a 13-page document outlines the deal's chapter on customs and trade facilitation.

The White House said in a fact sheet that Japan will immediately expand import quotas on rice, allowing for 75% more U.S. rice sales to that country's buyers.

Philippines President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos told reporters in Manila that the Philippines didn't agree to drop tariffs to zero on all U.S. goods, as the U.S. claimed. He said that the Philippines agreed to eliminate tariffs in particular markets the U.S. really cares about, like automobiles.

The president of Indonesia confirmed to reporters in Jakarta that he agreed to 19% tariffs, in exchange for buying more wheat, soybeans, fuel and Boeing aircraft.

The chief negotiator for the EU told reporters in Brussels July 14 that his team had thought "we are very close to an agreement," though there were still "quite large gaps" on what the U.S. was offering and what the EU could accept on goods subject to national security tariffs, such as cars and steel, and, perhaps in the future, pharmaceuticals.

Ahead of an EU-China summit later this month, officials from both sides criticized the other’s trade practices and warned that conditions need to improve if they plan to work together on market access, economic security measures and other trade issues.

The head of the trade committee in the EU parliament said one of the sticking points in the negotiations with the U.S. is whether 50% tariffs on steel and 25% tariffs on cars and car parts continue to be collected as the two parties move from an agreement in principle to a detailed agreement.