by Andrea | Jun 11, 2018 | international trade rules, tools for importers
Citing national security concerns, in March (2018) the Trump Administration imposed a 25% duty on steel imports and a 10% duty on aluminum imports. Have US tariffs launched a trade war? Or is it clever use of a negotiating tactic by the Administration? Negotiations...
by Andrea | May 21, 2018 | access to finance, international trade rules, tools for importers
Should the system of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) be reformed? That is the question being considered by the United Nations Commission on Trade Law (UNCITRAL). ISDS provisions are contained in about 3,000 investment treaties and investment chapters of free...
by Andrea | Apr 26, 2018 | access to finance, international trade rules
GSP is back! As of April 22, 2018 importers can once again take advantage of the retroactive renewal of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. This means: Entering GSP-eligible products without having to pay duties; and Claiming refunds for duties paid...
by Andrea | Apr 15, 2018 | CSME, international trade rules, Recent Trends in Trade, tools for importers, world financial crisis
The Trump trade agenda is in the news. Since January (2018), the Trump Administration has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, started a trade war with China, and re-negotiated the 6-year old Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). The Administration also...
by Andrea | Feb 27, 2018 | access to finance, CSME, international trade rules, markets in Africa, tools for importers
The threat to “Kill NAFTA” was a consistent promise of Trump as a presidential candidate. Instead, while the threat remains, on May 18, 2017 the Trump Administration announced its intention to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). To what end?...
by Andrea | Jan 29, 2018 | international trade rules, world financial crisis
– In Part I we discussed the weak and divided outcomes from the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference. Institutional Concerns Several institutional factors explain the weak and divided outcomes from the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference. The WTO’s consensus approach to...