India and the U.S. will negotiate a bilateral trade agreement that will cover multiple sectors in tranches, with the first aiming for completion in the fall of 2025, President Donald Turmp and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in their joint statement, released after their meeting Feb. 13. The two leaders also announced plans to increase U.S. military sales to India and possibly reduce defense trade restrictions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
Canada announced then later rescinded retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. after both sides reached an agreement to delay new tariffs this week.
Political negotiations on modernizing the EU's "global agreement" with Mexico have concluded, the European Commission said last week. The deal could put in place an "ambitious" framework to expand economic and political cooperation between the two sides, including around the "de-risking" of supply chains and securing a "sustainable supply of critical raw materials," the commission said.
Donald Trump's return to the White House brings a "lack of predictability," Baker McKenzie attorneys said during a webinar last week on how threatened tariffs could affect countries around the globe.
The EU and four members of a trading bloc of South American nations referred to as Mercosur -- Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay -- concluded a partnership agreement, which will "boost strategic trade and political ties" between the nations, the European Commission announced. Bolivia just became a member of Mercosur on July 8.
The former chief of staff to then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has been chosen for USTR in Donald Trump's second administration.
The U.K. and India will relaunch talks on a free trade deal in 2025 after failing to reach an agreement in discussions over the last two years (see 2309010034), the U.K. announced this week after a meeting between their two leaders at the Group of 20 summit in Brazil. Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the U.K. will look to lower Indian tariffs “to help British firms export to this dynamic market.”
U.K. negotiators flew to Seoul this week to begin talks on upgrading a trade deal with South Korea that was negotiated more than a decade ago. The U.K. specifically wants to put in place “digitalised customs procedures,” simplified rules of origin and “reduced or zero tariffs” for exports to South Korea, adding that it wants to take better advantage of South Korea’s “booming import demand.”
The U.K. and Switzerland made “good progress” during a fifth round of negotiations earlier this month on an “enhanced” free trade deal, the U.K’s Department for Business and Trade said Oct. 30. The two countries plan to hold a sixth round in early 2025, the U.K. said, adding that a “stronger trade relationship with Switzerland will contribute to growth, jobs and prosperity in the UK.”
The European Commission and Beijing are still searching for a way to avoid upcoming EU countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles, the commission said, even after EU member states voted to approve the measures earlier this month (see 2410040013).