• Chair calls dedicated meetings to solve impasse on special treatment for developing countries

At a meeting on 8 February, the Chair of the trade and development negotiations, Ambassador Kadra Ahmed Hassan of Dijbouti, encouraged WTO members to find common ground on strengthening special treatment for developing countries.

• ISDS Reform: From the Forest to the Trees of an Appellate Mechanism

Last week, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III (WGIII) made substantial progress toward designing an appellate mechanism for investment disputes

• Move in or lose out: Saudi Arabia’s ultimatum unsettles foreign firms

Saudi Arabia’s ultimatum for global companies to move their regional hubs to Riyadh by 2024 or lose business is the kind of decision making that has made some wary of investing there.

• The EU’s Outreach to the U.S. on WTO DS

The EU announced a new “open, sustainable and assertive EU trade policy” today. The press release is here; a Q & A is here; the main communication from the Commission is here.

• China urges US to lift trade restrictions, stop interference in Taiwan

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on the US on Monday to lift restrictions on trade and people-to-people contacts while ceasing what Beijing considers unwarranted interference in the areas of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.

• New WTO handbook sheds light on the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement

A new WTO publication, launched on 22 February, provides an overview of the purpose and scope of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), the types of measures it covers and its key principles.

• SIEL Conversation 25 February 2021

The aim of SIEL Conversations is to bring together authors and commentators to give talks that are idea-focused so as to foster learning and inspiration, and provoke conversations that matter.

Each SIEL Conversation will last approximately one hour and will include commentary from the speakers, with questions from the public.

• China’s debt-trap diplomacy: Pak to seek debt relief for power projects

In China’s debt-trap diplomacy, Pakistan is struggling to repay loans for power projects under President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and seeks to reschedule as much as USD 22 billion in outstanding credits.

• WTO Members review proposals on improving implementation of Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement

At a meeting of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) on 23-26 February, WTO members discussed various proposals submitted under the Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement.

The review aims at developing a set of recommendations by the Committee on how to improve the implementation of the Agreement.