The EU’s Made in Europe and whack-a-mole approach to China is undermining its free trade agreement agenda, to the detriment of long-term partnerships and of the policy stability needed to foster growt...

European Parliament rapporteurs want public procurement contracts to favour European Union firms first, before opening the market further on the basis of reciprocity.

Brussels and Manila are closing in on a free trade agreement, with the European Commission's chief negotiator telling parliamentarians a deal could be sealed within weeks — though gaps remain on goods, services and government procurement.

Japan's offer to host a new secretariat for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership looks set to open up political divisions within the 12-nation trade bloc.

The European Union and the United Arab Emirates have made good progress on their free trade agreement, but "quite important gaps" remain in several areas, a senior European Commission trade official told the European Parliament’s international trade committee.

Ditte Juul Jørgensen, the European Commission's new director-general for trade and economic security, said the EU is looking for "concrete results" and "proof of concept" from its ongoing talks with China over the bilateral trade imbalance.

The European Union will push for the plurilateral World Trade Organization agreement on investment facilitation to be applied on an interim basis, despite the continuing opposition of several WTO members.

Relations with the EU will dominate UK trade policy this autumn, as London seeks to finalise its delayed 'reset' agreement on closer trade and economic ties.

New rules to establish the origin of steel imported into the EU present a mix of challenges and concessions to traders, trade lawyers said.

Brussels heads into autumn with one trade war brewing and another simmering.Tariff pressure from Washington has stabilised for now, but Beijing is fast overtaking the United States as the bloc's biggest trade headache, while a Brazilian animal-product ban and a packed free trade agenda add to the workload.

The EU and China risk heading towards a trade war, notwithstanding the launch of a Trade and Investment Dialogue earlier this summer.But agreeing on a form of managed trade could provide an exit ramp, striking a balance between providing Europe with the goods and inputs it needs, preserving employment in China and not impeding the EU’s efforts to re-industrialise.

The leader of one of Australia’s main opposition parties said he would not support ratification of the trade agreement between Australia and the European Union, calling it "the worst deal ever".

The EU and China risk heading towards a trade war, notwithstanding the launch of a Trade and Investment Dialogue earlier this summer.But agreeing on a form of managed trade could provide an exit ramp, striking a balance between providing Europe with the goods and inputs it needs, preserving employment in China and not impeding the EU’s efforts to re-industrialise.

The UK government plans to negotiate a public procurement chapter with Morocco to secure improved access to an expanding state procurement market in the North African country.

The European Union has decided to apply the 50% out-of-quota duties foreseen in a new steel regulation enacted at the end of June to free trade agreement partners Albania, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, North Macedonia, Serbia, Switzerland and Tunisia. It also targeted Türkiye with which it is in a customs union.

The next trade battles with the US will be less about tariffs but about proof or product origin at customs at a time when Washington cracks down on China.

Switzerland has defied the western trend towards trade conflict with China by concluding a comprehensive new trade deal with Beijing.

The chair of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with China said he does not expect Beijing to change its export-driven policies, even as the EU's goods deficit with China approaches €1 billion a day.

The EU should urgently examine China’s imposition of export controls on 14 EU entities from last week to determone whether the measure represents coercion

A World Trade Organization dispute panel ruled that Türkiye's additional duties on electric vehicles imported from China breach Ankara's commitments under WTO rules, because the duties exceed the country's bound tariff ceilings.

An interview with WTO General Council chair and New Zealand envoy Clare Kelly

The United States is stripping the world trading system’s foundational most-favoured nation principle of its meaning. The European Union has clumsily joined that bandwagon.

The EU should urgently examine China’s imposition of export controls on 14 EU entities from last week to determone whether the measure represents coercion

An interview with WTO General Council chair and New Zealand envoy Clare Kelly

The United States is stripping the world trading system’s foundational most-favoured nation principle of its meaning. The European Union has clumsily joined that bandwagon.

New UK prime minister Andy Burnham reshuffled his government's trade team on his first day in office yesterday, setting back hopes for a deal to reset EU-UK relations this year.

WTO reform conversations have begun. The countless papers submitted by members show there is real commitment to some system. But only when they also accept the need to discipline their own behaviour will real progress be made.

The European Union doubled down on its call for World Trade Organization members to review the functioning of the most-favoured-nation principle. In a submission to the WTO’s General Council, the EU said the institution’s members should be prepared to consider “sectoral trade agreements” under which preferential trade commitments would be ...

The European Union called for countries which block decisions at the World Trade Organization to confront the “political cost” of their actions.

The European Union and India said they want to conclude talks on a bilateral investment protection agreement by the end of the year.

The United States has continued to withhold money from the World Trade Organization, adding to a significant cashflow challenge for the global trade body.

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The United Kingdom and Switzerland concluded negotiations on a new bilateral free trade agreement which focuses heavily on the services sector.

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European Commission deputy director-general Denis Redonnet promised members of the European Parliament stronger transparency about what his institution is discussing with China after it established a working group with Beijing's ministry of commerce at the end of last month. 

The trade relationship between the EU and the United States will remain volatile and require close management, a senior European Commission official said.

The European Commission removed leather from the scope of the EU Deforestation Regulation.

EU foreign ministers told their ambassadors to continue talks on a possible ban on imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The United Kingdom and Switzerland concluded negotiations on a new bilateral free trade agreement which focuses heavily on the services sector.

European Parliament trade committee busy

The European Commission promised to introduce 'mirror measures' for imports of pig and poultry products, as part of a new push for higher animal welfare standards in the EU livestock sector.

The United Kingdom’s agriculture and trade departments are at loggerheads over the launch of trade talks with the Mercosur bloc.

The European Commission promised to introduce 'mirror measures' for imports of pig and poultry products, as part of a new push for higher animal welfare standards in the EU livestock sector.

The European Parliament’s environment committee voted last night on its position on the European Commission's plans to amend legislation tied to its two-year-old carbon border measure.

A leading steel pipe producer from Ukraine says a miscalculation by Brussels has left it with a duty-free quota at least 30% smaller than it should be, adding to industry complaints over the EU's new steel safeguard regime.

Brussels is learning to live with the permanent state of tariff policy instability with the United States, as digital trade moves closer to the eye of the next brewing storm in the transatlantic relationship.

Beyond seeking a free trade agreement with the EU, Thailand is on a mission to diversify its economic relationships and seeking to join the OECD. Thailand’s trade representative Werapong Art Prapha spoke to Rob Francis in Brussels about the state of ongoing negotiations with the EU.

  You are warmly invited to the Borderlex summer party  An evening of drinks, conversation, and insights    Join us for an informal gathering where we will share the latest news from Borderlex and engage in lively discussions with our editors on recent trade policy developments.  Date: Wednesday, 1 July 2026 Time: 18:00-20:00 CET Venue: Press ...

News and analysis on trade policy in Europe.