Trade Deals Around the World: September 2022

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World Trade News (Image: teal world viewed from space with connection lines spreading across the image)

Trade Deals Around the World is our periodic update, which gives you a quick and easy overview of what has been happening in the many trade deal negotiations worldwide. 

We focus on the European Union and the United Kingdom and watch China and the United States. We look back at June and focus on trade deals only in this update.  

From the amount of news we came across in the past month, it is clear that most free trade negotiating teams took some time off for the summer. Still, enough happened for an interesting update. Happy reading! 

The United States and Taiwan 

If there is one trade deal we need to start with it is the negotiations that will start between Taiwan and the United States. An interesting move that is sure to upset China, as China still sees  

The US and Taiwan will start formal talks on a trade and economic initiative, following through on a long-planned promise to deepen ties amid opposition from China.  

The first round of trade talks is set to take place “early this fall,” the Office of the US Trade Representative said in a statement 

Bloomberg 

A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Thursday voiced resolute opposition to the negotiation of any agreement of official nature or with implications of sovereignty between the United States and China's Taiwan region. 

… 

Urging the U.S. side to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, Ma said that attempts to play the "Taiwan card" to block China's reunification and national rejuvenation will not succeed. 

China.org.cn 

The European Union and Mercosur 

Politico reports on the trade deal between the EU and the countries in the Mercosur pact, that has still not been ratified. 

Brussels struck an initial deal with the Mercosur countries — Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay — in June 2019, but the pact has effectively been on ice since then, not least because of a bitter political and personal clash between Bolsonaro and French President Emmanuel Macron. 

Politico 

Still there seems to be some movement on the horizon for the trade deal, as EU representatives reached out to the Brazilian government to continue negotiations. 

A European diplomat confirmed to Reuters the resumption of contacts to get a new round of talks going on the Mercosur deal, which has taken two decades to negotiate and would create the world's largest free market in terms of population. 

Reuters 

The European Union and Australia 

Another trade deal that still has to be finalised is between the EU and Australia. 

EU Ambassador to Australia Dr Michael Pulch says there is a renewed effort in Brussels to finalise negotiations with Canberra on a free trade agreement by next year. 

… 

“We would like to have it finalised in a years time – I think there is a renewed sense of priority in Brussels,” he said. 

Sky News 

The European Union and Mexico 

Ratification of trade agreements is clearly not the European Union’s strongpoint. The fact that there are 27 countries that need to ratify these agreements doesn’t help. Reuters is reporting on the trade agreement between Mexico and the EU, which still hasn’t been ratified. 

The EU and Latin America's second-biggest economy in 2018 reached an agreement in principle on updating their joint trade deal, but the coronavirus pandemic and a complex approval process have hampered final ratification in Europe. 

Reuters 

The United Kingdom and Ukraine 

Ukraine and the UK have launched talks to negotiate a new digital trade deal to support Ukrainian businesses. 

The digital trade agreement will aim to support Ukrainian businesses by cutting red tape and helping them to trade with the UK more efficiently through technology such as electronic transactions, e-signatures, and e-contracts. 

It will also make it easier for UK companies to work with Ukrainian businesses and support with their economic recovery. Total trade between the UK and Ukraine was worth £1.9 billion in 2021 and UK exports of digitally delivered services accounted for 73% of all UK services exports to Ukraine in 2020. 

Gov.uk 

The United Kingdom and India 

The UK and India held their fifth round of talks and expect to reach a trade agreement later this year. 

Both countries hope to … sign a comprehensive and balanced FTA by the end of October. 

Unlike traditional FTAs, the final India-UK trade deal will cover a wider range of areas, including gender, labor, trade and development, corruption, and MSMEs.  

The two countries have also set up committees to discuss a totalization agreement sought by New Delhi, which will ease the social security compliance burden on Indian IT companies and remove dual social security taxation. India also wants market access to the UK legal services sector. 

India Briefing 

Other Reading Material on the United Kingdom 

We came across three interesting articles we would like to share with you here. 

The first is by the Washington Post and it is about Brexit and how that has been working for the United Kingdom. The other article is an overview of terms relevant to Brexit, compiled by Lexology. The final one is a nice overview by Investment Monitor of the post-Brexit Trade Agreements of the UK. 

Brexit is Boris Johnson’s singular achievement. How well is it working? - Washington Post 

Beyond Brexit: A-Z by topic - Lexology 

What is the state of post-Brexit UK trade agreements? - Investment Monitor 

Other News on Trade Deals