India told the World Trade Organization Oct. 11 that it initiated a safeguard investigation on poly vinyl chloride suspension resin with residual vinyl chloride monomer above two parts per million, the WTO announced. India started the investigation Sept. 16 and said all interested parties can make their views on the matter known within 30 days from Sept. 16 to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.

Brazil wants to join the WTO's plurilateral Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, the WTO said this week. Switzerland's Jean-Marie Meraldi, chair of the committee, said he knows Brazil is prepping further information for its application, which was submitted in June, and that he would set up an informal meeting for signatories to talk about the documents. Thirty-three WTO countries are signatories to the agreement, and the latest member to accede was North Macedonia in 2019.

Colombia and the EU initiated an arbitration proceeding at the World Trade Organization to look over a dispute panel's findings in a proceeding on Colombia's antidumping duties on frozen fries from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, the WTO said. Colombia circulated the notice of appeal Oct. 10 and started the arbitration proceeding under Article 25 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding.

World Trade Organization members held the first meeting on fossil fuel subsidy revisions following the launch of the Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform initiative at the 12th Ministerial Conference, the WTO said. The meeting saw members looking for ways to increase transparency and hit long-term sustainability objectives relating to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. The initiative has 47 co-sponsors and members plan to hold at least three meetings ahead of MC13.

The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body granted South Korea and the U.S. more time to find a possible settlement in the dispute over the U.S.'s safeguard measures on large residential washers, the WTO said Oct. 5. The U.S. and South Korea asked the DSB to adopt the dispute settlement panel's findings no later than Dec. 20, unless the DSB decides not to do so or either party tells the DSB of its decision to appeal the ruling. The DSB agreed to the terms.

The World Trade Organization expects global trade growth to "lose momentum" in the second half of the year and remain tepid in 2023 given multiple shocks to the world economy, the WTO said. Global merchandise trade is now predicted to grow by 3.5% in 2022, but to improve by only 1% in 2023, down from an earlier estimate of 3.4%, the trade body said. The WTO expects import demand to slow given high energy prices stemming from Russia's war in Ukraine and tightening monetary policy in the U.S. that will impact interest-sensitive spending in industries such as housing. Further, China's COVID-19 policy and production disruptions coupled with weak external demand along with "growing import bills for fuels, food and fertilizers could lead to food insecurity and debt distress in developing countries," the WTO said.

Panelists at a Sept. 28 Public Forum session held at the World Trade Organization said member nations need to set into motion the implementation of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, the WTO said. The key agreement, reached at the 12th Ministerial Conference in June, bars certain subsidies to protect global fish stocks while committing WTO members to engage in further negotiations on the tenants of the deal.

Tax credits for electric vehicles made in North America -- an element of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act -- deals a "body-blow" to the World Trade Organization beyond anything doled out under the previous administration, John Magnus, president of Tradewins, said in a post on the International Economic Law and Policy Blog. The tax credit "clearly signals" that the government does not weigh WTO-consistency when making policy decisions, and anyone concerned about the legitimacy of the world's largest multilateral trade organization should be concerned since the U.S. widened the prospect of flouting the WTO's rules, the blog post said.

The Sept. 22 meeting of World Trade Organization's Committee on Regional Trade Agreements focused on five RTAs, the WTO said. South Korea's Taeho Lee, the committee's chair, called on members to ramp up efforts to provide outstanding data and comments for presentations of RTAs and to look into how the committee's work could be improved as part of efforts to reform the WTO.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she had an informal dialogue about the World Trade Organization dispute settlement system with representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, India and South Africa. Tai was in Bali, Indonesia, for a G-20 trade ministers meeting, and the discussion happened on the sidelines of that meeting.