China requested dispute consultations at the World Trade Organization last week with India, regarding the latter's incentives in the automotive and renewable energy sectors, the WTO announced.
A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel found last week that Colombia has failed to comply with the findings of an arbitration panel regarding the nation's antidumping duties on frozen fries from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
The EU and Uzbekistan concluded their bilateral negotiations on market access to services and goods, which the EU touted as a "significant milestone in Uzbekistan's accession to the World Trade Organization," the European Commission announced. The bilateral trade deal includes Uzbekistan's commitments on "maximum tariff rates for import and export of goods" and the nation's concessions in services. The commitments will be "embodied in the future Protocol of Accession of Uzbekistan to the WTO," the commission said. The EU and Uzbekistan also signed the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement on Oct. 24, which boosts bilateral cooperation across trade and investment issues, the commission said.
Vietnam has agreed to join the World Trade Organization's Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), the European Commission said. The MPIA, which has been championed by the EU as an alternative to the defunct Appellate Body, now includes 58 WTO members, including China, Japan and the U.K. The European Commission said the MPIA "supports rules-based trade, and each new adhesion increases the stability of multilateral trading relations."
A World Trade Organization dispute panel on Oct. 2 found that the EU violated its WTO commitments in its antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings on stainless steel cold-rolled flat products from Indonesia. Specifically, the dispute panel rejected the European Commission's attempt to countervail Chinese transnational subsidies in the Indonesian steel sector.
The EU will appeal a World Trade Organization panel report in Indonesia's case against the EU's countervailing duties on Indonesian biodiesel to the defunct Appellate Body, the EU reported at the Sept. 26 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. The appeal effectively ends the dispute, since there's no Appellate Body division that will be able to hear the case due to vacancies on the Appellate Body.
Egypt launched safeguard investigations on semifinished products of iron or non-alloy steel (billets) and cold rolled coil, galvanized steel and prepainted steel, notifying the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards of the two investigations. Parties interested in submitting their views on the investigations can do so within 30 days of the investigations' notices being published in the Official Gazette.
The World Trade Organization's Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies took effect Sept. 15 during a special General Council meeting after instruments of acceptance were received from Brazil, Kenya, Vietnam and Tonga, the WTO announced. Those acceptances brought the total number over the two-thirds threshold needed for the deal to enter into force (see 2508250013).
Thailand opened a safeguard investigation on polypropylene on Sept. 3, notifying the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards of the investigation this week. Interested parties can submit evidence or views on the proceeding to the nation's Department of Foreign Trade by Sept. 24.
China requested dispute consultations at the World Trade Organization regarding Canada's tariff rate quotas on certain steel goods from non-free trade agreement partners, including China, and Canada's surtax on certain steel and aluminum goods that contain China-origin steel or aluminum.