Trade Clippings - February 9 to February 15, 2015

  • February 17, 2015

Dear International Trade and Investment Committee Members, 

Here are the international trade and investment articles and publications of interest for the week of February 9 to February 15. This week’s edition has been curated by Dr. Paresh Pandya.

News

John W. Boscariol, “Worldwide: Key Developments In Economic Sanctions And Export Controls And What To Watch For In 2015”, McCarthy Tetrault (February 9, 2015)

  • In recent years, Canada has significantly expanded its multilateral and unilateral trade control measures. Broader scope and increased enforcement in the areas of economic sanctions, export and technology transfer controls, and defence trade controls have raised the stakes for Canadians engaged in cross-border activities. Enforcement and reputational risk is higher than ever and it is critical for any Canadian company doing business abroad to ensure it has internal controls in place to mitigate the growing risk exposure.

Steve Lowery, “Check Please! Can’t We Go Dutch On The World Economy?”, Global Trade (February 11, 2015)

  • Are you that friend that always picks up the bill for lunch or dinner? The kind whose friends are never at a loss to tell you how well their doing but suddenly go blind when the check arrives? Well, now you know what it means to be the U.S. economy. Yes, yes, we can read about the very fine numbers regarding other nations’ trade surpluses or their financial discipline but the plain fact of the matter is that it is the United States through investment that picks up the tab for the global economy.

The Canadian Press, “Canada wants WTO to solve China wood-pulp dispute”, CTV News (February 12, 2015)

  • The federal government is seeking a World Trade Organization tribunal to help resolve a dispute over China's move to slap duties on Canadian wood-pulp exports.

Michael White, “Mercedes Benz to Park Its U.S. Headquarters in Atlanta”, Global Trade (February 12, 2015)

  • The North American arm of German automaker Mercedes Benz is shifting its headquarters from Montvale, New Jersey south to Georgia. Beginning in July, the company will move into temporary office space at Sterling Pointe II, a 186,000-square-foot, Class A office building at the Perimeter Center complex in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody.

“Uncertainties on policy front affecting exports”, SME Times (February 14, 2015)

  • Uncertainties on policy front, contraction in global demand and high cost of credit affecting India's exports, apex exporters body FIEO said in a press release in New Delhi on Friday.

BRICS approve agenda on demographic issues”, SME Times (February 14, 2015)

  • The BRICS bloc of countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- have approved a joint agenda on demographic issues drawn up at the BRICS presidential summit in July last year in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza.

Government Press Releases

World Trade Organization, “US files dispute against China over alleged export-contingent subsidies to enterprises” (February 11, 2015)

  • The United States notified the WTO Secretariat on 11 February 2015 of a request for consultations with China regarding certain measures that allegedly provide export-contingent subsidies to enterprises in several industrial sectors. These sectors include textiles, agriculture, medical products, light industry, special chemical engineering, new materials, and hardware and building materials.

World Trade Organization, “Chinese Taipei files dispute against Indonesia over steel import restrictions” (February 12, 2015)

  • Chinese Taipei notified the WTO Secretariat on 12 February 2015 of a request for consultations with Indonesia regarding a safeguard measure on imports of certain flat-rolled iron or steel products.

World Trade Organization, “WTO issues panel reports on China’s anti-dumping duties on steel tubes” (February 13, 2015)

  • On 13 February 2015, the WTO issued the panel reports in the cases brought by Japan and the European Union, respectively, regarding “China--Measures imposing anti-dumping duties on high-performance stainless steel seamless tubes (“HP-SSST”)” (DS 454 and DS 460).

Commentary and Editorials

Barrie McKenna, “Sweeping megaregional trade deals leaving developing world behind”, The Globe and Mail (February 9, 2015)

  • Megaregional deals are the latest and greatest thing in the world of trade. 
  • These sweeping agreements will eventually tie much of the planet into vast new free-trade zones, with advanced, and often overlapping, rules covering everything from investments and services to labour and environmental standards.

Daniel Ciuriak and Daniel Schwanen, “Free trade with South Korea is here. Are Canadian firms ready?”, the Globe and Mail (February 10, 2015)

Hot on the heels of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement’s entry into force on January 1, Canada’s Trade Minister, Ed Fast, is leading a trade mission to South Korea this week. This is a good time to remind ourselves of the importance of this agreement, Canada’s first with an Asian economy. It is also a good time to commit to the further work required for Canada to reap the full advantage of this more open door towards Asia.