Dear International Trade and Investment Committee Members,
Here are the international trade and investment articles and publications of interest for the week of February 24 to March 2. This week’s edition has been curated by Anastasia Semenova. Anastasia is an associate at Gowlings in Ottawa.
Top News
- The twelve countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement wrapped up an intensive series of talks on Tuesday, reporting progress but no final deal. Trade observers had been watching this month’s Singapore ministerial closely to see if an agreement - or at least a new timeframe for one - might be announced, after participants missed last year’s target for finishing the negotiations.
- Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major industrialised and emerging economies agreed to aim for a two percent - effectively US$2 trillion - increase in their collective GDP over the next five years, with the coalition’s leaders set to release national plans for reaching this goal when they meet in Brisbane in November.
- A WTO panel is set to review whether China has complied with an adverse ruling issued by the global trade arbiter, after the US formally filed a request for a panel to review the case.
- The Faroe Islands’ dispute with the EU over restrictions on the archipelago’s fishing fleets advanced to the WTO panel stage on Wednesday, after Tórshavn filed a second request with the global trade arbiter.
- Talks for a plurilateral agreement on services trade advanced in Geneva this week, sources confirmed to Bridges. The latest round, hosted by the EU mission over a period of eight days, was the first in which participants reviewed initial market access offers.
- WTO members discussed a number of new and long-running issues such as plain packaging for tobacco products, measures related to biodiversity, innovation in green technologies, and the role of universities, when they met as the intellectual property council on 25–26 February 2014. But they failed to narrow their differences on many issues and there were no breakthrough decisions.
Other News of Note
- The crisis in Ukraine is raising the anxiety level among global investors, with the threat of outright military conflict adding to broader concerns that have roiled emerging markets in recent months.
- The Honourable Ed Fast, Canada's Minister of International Trade, along with ministers from Cameroon, Gabon, Mali, and Mauritania are scheduled to address an assembly of mining industry stakeholders at Franco-Mine 2014 in the Regency Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Toronto Hotel at 370 King St. W. in Toronto on Monday, March 3 from 8:00 to 16:30.
- Canada's current account deficit (on a seasonally adjusted basis) increased $1.2 billion to $16.0 billion in the fourth quarter. This increase was mostly because of a larger deficit on trade in goods.
- The Governor has announced that he will lead a delegation of Missouri business leaders and state officials to the Great White North, Sunday through Thursday. In a statement, Nixon says Canada is Missouri’s largest export market and bought nearly $4-billion in goods from Missouri last year. Nixon will meet with business leaders in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.
- Canada needs to do more to open more international markets to Canadian agricultural products to support southern Alberta farmers, say the potential nominees for the Conservative Party in the Macleod riding.
- China has lifted its anti-dumping duties on European X-ray security equipment following a successful challenge by the EU in the WTO. Chinese authorities have confirmed that the additional duties for imports from the EU were removed on 19 February 2014.
- The Directorate-General for Trade is organising a stakeholder briefing session during the fourth round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, which will take place in Brussels from 10 to 14 March 2014. During this session, stakeholders will be briefed by the EU and US chief negotiators on the status of the negotiations, and will have the opportunity to ask questions.
Government Announcements/Press Releases
- Erin O’Toole, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, today highlighted Canada’s growing trade relationship with Southeastern Europe during remarks he delivered at the NATO Council of Canada Conference on Investment and Business Opportunities in South Eastern Europe.
- Minister Fast to lead trade mission to Colombia to build on free trade agreement to create jobs and opportunities for exporters; The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, today welcomed Santiago Rojas Arroyo, Colombia’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, to Ottawa to discuss recent progress in the Canada-Colombia relationship.
- The Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State (Foreign Affairs and Consular), today concluded a four-day visit to Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Beijing, China, where she engaged with government and business leaders to help position Canada as a partner of choice for trade and investment and to highlight the strong and growing ties between Canada and China. The visit—the Minister’s first to China—took place from February 23 to 27, 2014.
- The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, today marked the conclusion of the latest round of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations. Ministers from negotiating countries met in Singapore from February 22 to 25, 2014, to continue their pursuit of a comprehensive and balanced agreement. The previous ministerial round of negotiations was held in December 2013.
- The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, today marked the conclusion of the latest round of negotiations for a trade in services agreement (TISA). The round took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from February 17 to 24, 2014.