World Trade Organization members confirmed the appointment of Nigeria's Adamu Mohammed Abdulhamid to serve as chair of the special session of the Council for Trade in Services, the council's "negotiating arm," the WTO announced. Abdulhamid will lead discussions to achieve a "progressively higher level of liberalization, as reflected in members' specific commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services," it said.
The European Commission on April 11 extended its antidumping duties on monosodium glutamate (MSG) from China to cover imports from Malaysia, following an anti-circumvention investigation on Malaysian MSG. The commission said the investigation found that the exports had "increased significantly" following the imposition of duties on Chinese MSG due to duty evasion. The move imposes 39.7% AD on Malaysian MSG. The commission said it uncovered assembly operations with Chinese raw materials to which less than 25% value was added, along with transshipment of Chinese MSG via Malaysia.
In an April 9 memorandum, President Donald Trump instructed all "executive departments and agencies" to "identify certain categories of unlawful and potentially unlawful regulations within 60 days" and establish plans to repeal them. The memo told the agencies to review their regulations for compliance with 10 recent Supreme Court decisions, the first of which is Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the decision eliminating the concept of deferring to agencies' interpretations of ambiguous statutes.
Laura Black, former director of policy and international relations for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., has joined White & Case as partner in the global trade and foreign direct investment reviews practice, the firm announced. Black joins from Akin Gump, where she worked as senior counsel since 2022. Black worked at CFIUS from 2018 to 2022.
Moldova formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on April 8, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 96. The WTO needs 15 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.
China opened a dispute at the World Trade Organization on April 8 on the U.S. reciprocal tariffs, claiming that the duties violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, the Agreement on Customs Valuation and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. China's challenge covers the 34% additional tariff on Chinese imports that is set to take effect April 9, along with the 10% duty on imports from all trading partners, which took effect on April 5.
Canada filed a dispute consultation request with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization on April 7, alleging that the U.S. government's 25% additional tariff on automobiles and automobile parts violate WTO obligations. The request said the duties "appear to be inconsistent with" U.S. obligations under Articles II and VIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.
The U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation released a threat assessment about possible sanctions violations by legal services providers, noting that since February 2022, the legal services sector has accounted for the second-highest number of suspected breach report submissions to OFSI. Legal services accounts for 16% of all submissions, behind first-place financial services with 65% of submissions.
Antigua and Barbuda formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on April 3, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 95. The WTO needs 16 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.
Russian national Oleg Patsulya was sentenced April 2 to nearly six years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to ship controlled aviation technology to Russia in violation of U.S. export laws and to launder money in connection with the scheme, DOJ announced.