Caribbean Trade & Development Digest – April 8-14 , 2018

Welcome to the Caribbean Trade and Development Digest for the week of April 8-14, 2018! We are pleased to share some of the major trade and development headlines and analysis across the Caribbean region and the World. We hope you enjoy this edition.

REGIONAL

Poultry producers complain to CARICOM over non-adoption of standards

Stabroek News: Regional poultry producers have expressed concern at the non-adoption of specifications for their meat and feeds which had been developed by the standards body, CROSQ and approved. Read more

Trinidad and Tobago judge rules homophobic laws unconstitutional
 
The Guardian (UK): The ruling, which declared sections of the Sexual Offences Act unconstitutional, may soon lead to decriminalising gay sex. Read more 

Canada’s PM, Justin Trudeau, meets with CARICOM States

Breaking Belize News: This afternoon, representatives from CARICOM met with Prime Minister of Canada  Justin Trudeau to discuss trade and the situation with Venezuela. Read more 

CARICOM Secretary General says CSME is a “work in progress”

Nation News: The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General , Irwin La Rocque says while the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) continues to be a work in progress, it is sufficiently advanced to be used more effectively by the regional private sector. Read more 

CARICOM busy laying the groundwork for restructuring

Antigua Observer: CARICOM is pressing ahead with plans to ensure the restructuring of the governance of West Indies cricket, undeterred by the International Cricket Council’s request to have Cricket West Indies president, Dave Cameron, present at any meeting between the two bodies. Read more

Harmonised Cross Border Trade Needed for CARICOM Economic Integration

St Kitts & Nevis Observer: Harmonised approaches to conducting trade across borders in the Caribbean and effective customs valuation are among the steps that must be taken towards full economic integration within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Read more 

WTO

Strong trade growth in 2018 rests on policy choices

WTO: World merchandise trade growth is expected to remain strong in 2018 and 2019 after posting its largest increase in six years in 2017, but continued expansion depends on robust global economic growth and governments pursuing appropriate monetary, fiscal and especially trade policies, WTO economists said. Read more 

WTO members discuss ways of improving the transparency of regional trade agreements

WTO: WTO members discussed how to improve work on enhancing the transparency of regional trade agreements (RTAs) at a meeting of the Committee on RTAs on 9-10 April at the WTO. They reviewed five RTAs covering countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. The new chair of the committee, Ambassador Julian Braithwaite of the United Kingdom, presided at this first committee meeting of 2018. Read more

China initiates WTO dispute complaint against US tariffs on steel, aluminium products

WTO: China has requested WTO dispute consultations with the United States concerning certain US duties imposed on imports of steel and aluminium products. The request was circulated to WTO members on 9 April. Read more 

WTO establishes two panels to rule on US lumber duties

WTO: At the request of Canada, the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) agreed on 9 April to establish two panels to examine Canada’s complaints regarding anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed by the United States on imports of Canadian softwood lumber. Read more 

Korea files appeal against WTO panel ruling regarding Japanese food import restrictions

WTO: Korea filed an appeal on 9 April against a WTO panel report in the case brought by Japan in “Korea — Import Bans, and Testing and Certification Requirements for Radionuclides” (DS495). The panel circulated its report on 22 February 2018. Read more 

WTO issues panel report regarding Korean duties on pneumatic valves from Japan

WTO: On 12 April the WTO circulated the panel report in the case brought by Japan in “Korea — Anti-Dumping Duties on Pneumatic Valves from Japan” (DS504). Read more

INTERNATIONAL

(New Zealand) PM looking to start EU trade negotiations

News ZB: Trade will be top of the agenda for the PM when she meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris later today. Read more

The five biggest threats to the WTO

Bloomberg: The World Trade Organization is facing the greatest crisis of its 23-year existence. President Donald Trump doesn’t believe the WTO can handle the problems created by China’s rapid economic ascent and is fundamentally challenging the rules that govern international trade. Read more 

Mexico Pushes to Finish Trade Deal With EU This Month

Bloomberg Politics: Mexican trade negotiators are pushing to finish work on an updated free-trade agreement with the European Union ahead of a trip by President Enrique Pena Nieto to the region later this month, according to three people familiar with the plan. Read more 

IMF warns about trade war

CNN Money: Calling on countries to steer clear of protectionism, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a speech that the “system of open trade based on rules and shared responsibility is now in danger of being torn apart”. Read more 

Kenya makes strong bid to host global trade chambers conference

The Standard (Kenya): Kenya has put up a strong bid to beat its fiercest competitors, including Dubai, in hosting the largest global commerce congress in 2021. Read more

Trump Proposes Rejoining Trans-Pacific Partnership

New York Times: President Trump, in a sharp reversal, told a gathering of farm-state lawmakers and governors on Thursday morning that the United States was looking into rejoining a multicountry trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal he pulled out of days after assuming the presidency. Read more

Main-streaming blockchains in global trade

Hindu Business Line: Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), a concept of recording and sharing data across multiple data stores, or ledgers as they are popularly called, is an idea whose time has come. The concept of DLT was introduced through block chains in the famous paper by the elusive author known only as Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008.Read more

More than half of the UK wants public vote on Brexit deal: survey

Euronews: The majority of people in the UK want a “people’s vote” on the final Brexit deal, according to a new survey in which some 52% of respondents expressed support for the idea. Read more 

Britain eyes former colonies to plug post-Brexit trade gap

NBCNews: With Britain less than a year away from leaving the European Union, but yet to secure any new trade deals, London is eyeing former colonies for help fill its post-Brexit trading hole. Read more 

U.S. Offers Compromise on Autos, Boosting Hopes for Nafta Deal

Wall Street Journal: The Trump administration is hammering out a compromise on auto-industry rules at the center of the North American Free Trade Agreement, increasing the chances that the U.S., Mexico and Canada can reach a deal this spring to revise the pact. Read more 

Brussels mulls offer of trade deal to Trump, if he drops tariff threat

Politico: The European Commission is developing a plan to offer Donald Trump the prospect of a trade deal with the EU in exchange for a permanent exemption from U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, according to five EU officials and diplomats. Read more 

BONUS

WTO Press Conference on Trade Outlook

Audio available here.

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