Executive summary

This edition of Trade Talking Points provides updates on:

• G20's commitment to multilateral reform
• Critical minerals financing
• Indonesia's request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
• Latest on trade remedies from the United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU)
• New Free Trade Agreements from the United Arab Emirates
• UK's new industrial strategy
• Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders Summit
• Ongoing trade tensions between the EU and China
• EU ratification of the EU-Andean Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD's) work on Excess Steel Capacity
• A period of summits including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank's Autumn meetings
• G20 Trade and Investment Ministers' meeting,
• Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Summit
• Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
• Postponement of the EU Deforestation Regulation implementation
• United States (US) temporary Section 301 tariff exemptions

G20 multilateral reform

In the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which took place in New York, G20 Foreign Ministers met under the Brazilian G20 Presidency and issued a statement on multilateral reform. This included commentary on the work of the United Nations, World Trade Organization (WTO) and IMF.

Specifically regarding the WTO, G20 countries committed to "work towards necessary reform of the WTO to improve all its functions, so that it can become more responsive and resilient in addressing current trade challenges."

Critical minerals financing

Also in the margins of the UNGA, the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) announced a new finance network to support critical minerals projects across the mineral lifecycle (including production, extraction, processing, recycling and recovery projects).

The MSP Finance Network includes more than 30 development banks, export credit agencies and financial institutions, which will work with the 14 MSP countries to "drive sustainable investment in global critical mineral supply chains," according to the joint statement.

MSP countries are: Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Sweden, the UK and US, plus the EU.

Indonesia requests to join CPTPP

Indonesia has formally requested to join the CPTPP. Indonesia joins a number of other countries, including China, Taiwan, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Ukraine, that have applied to accede to the agreement.

The UK was the first country to accede to the CPTPP, and this is expected to take effect on 15 December 2024.

UK and EU trade remedies

The UK's Trade Remedies Authority has launched a number of investigations, including:

• New investigation into tin mill products from China
• Review of imports of ironing boards from China
• Changes to Category 1 steel import quotas

Meanwhile the EU has implemented new requirements concerning the registration of all imports of products under anti-dumping or anti-subsidy investigations, including ongoing investigations in which provisional determinations have not yet been made.

New UAE Free Trade Agreements

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has continued to progress its ambitious program of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and recently concluded negotiations with Australia and New Zealand. The UAE also launched negotiations with Japan on 18 September 2024.

The UAE is continuing to negotiate FTAs with the UK and EU as part of their membership of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

New EY-ICC report on Circular Economy

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and teams from across EY have produced a new report, Putting the Circular Economy into Motion: From Barriers to Opportunities. Together, EY and the ICC have identified the key barriers (including cross-border) that companies face when adopting circular business models, and present avenues for policymakers and businesses to overcome these barriers and accelerate the transition to the circular economy.

UK Industrial Strategy

The UK Government has announced that it will be developing a modern Industrial Strategy together with a new Advisory Council. This includes a consultation to inform the development of the new Industrial Strategy: the Government's proposed plan to ease the investor journey and create long-term, inclusive, secure and sustainable growth. The final Industrial Strategy will be published in Spring 2025, alongside the multi-year Spending Review and a parallel Trade Strategy.

The Industrial Strategy will focus on high-potential sectors, including advanced manufacturing, clean energy, creative industries, defense, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services.

Businesses have until 25 November 2024 to respond to the consultation.

ASEAN Leaders Summit

In the margins of the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits, which took place on 9 October 2024, ASEAN member states and China substantially concluded negotiations on an upgraded ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) 3.0. The upgraded agreement includes improvements in the chapters on Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation, Investment, and Economic and Technical Cooperation, as well as Market Access for Services.

ASEAN Leaders also adopted the Declaration on Enhancing Supply Chain Connectivity, which looks to enhance efforts to strengthen supply chain efficiency and resilience in South-East Asia.

ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Ongoing trade tensions between China and EU

Following the EU's decision to impose anti-subsidy duties on Chinese-origin electric vehicles, China's Ministry of Commerce announced that, from 11 October 2024, it will impose provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of brandy from the EU. China has also stated that it is considering measures on imports of EU-origin large engine gas-powered vehicles. Meanwhile the EU has opened a new anti-dumping investigation into hardwood plywood from China.

EU ratifies the EU-Andean FTA

The Council of the EU has adopted a decision to conclude the FTA between the EU and Colombia, Peru and Ecuador (Andean countries). The EU has applied the FTA since 2013, but this adoption will allow for the full implementation of the agreement from 1 November 2024.

OECD Forum on Excess Steel Capacity

The 28 members of the OECD-led Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity issued a joint statement expressing concern about the "significant challenges arising from the ongoing and considerable increase in steel excess capacity." The ministers called for countries to refrain from market-distorting subsidies and government support measures, ensure market-based outcomes in the steel industry, and increase transparency to reduce excess capacity.

World Economic Outlook

In the margins of the autumn meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington, D.C., the IMF published its latest World Economic Outlook, which issued a stark warning about the future risks to the global economy with geopolitical fragmentation weighing heavily on trade and investment.

G20 Trade and Investment Ministers' Meeting

The G20 Trade and Investment Ministerial Meeting was held on 24 October 2024 in Brasilia, Brazil. Progress was made on several key initiatives from the Brazilian Presidency of the G20:

• Trade and sustainable development. Trade Ministers established new principles on trade and sustainable development to be used by G20 members when designing new measures including on science-based evidence, transparency and international cooperation.
• Women in international trade. Trade Ministers shared examples of different national initiatives designed to address the challenges to women's participation in international trade and reinforced its commitment to increase the participation of women in trade at all levels and sectors.
• Sustainable development in investment agreements. G20 members and guest countries party to the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) noted that it can support cross-border investment for developing countries, and WTO members should quickly find consensus on incorporating the Agreement into the WTO legal framework.
• WTO reform and strengthening of multilateral trade system. Trade Ministers reaffirmed the commitment to conduct discussions at the WTO to ensure that a functioning Dispute Settlement System is made accessible to all WTO Members.

While in Brazil, the UK's Secretary of State for Business and International Trade, Jonny Reynolds MP, announced the formation of a new Regulatory Partnership for Growth Fund. G20 leaders will meet on 18-19 November 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The next G20 Presidency will be hosted by South Africa in 2025.

BRICS Summit

The 16th BRICS Summit was held from 22 to 24 October 2024 in Kazan, Russia. The BRICS group — formed of Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Russia, South Africa and the UAE — issued the Kazan declaration following the summit, including the following trade-related points:

• Recognition of e-commerce as a driver of global economic growth, with the BRICS group committed to increasing cooperation in using digital technologies to create an enabling environment for businesses to enter global markets, explore online dispute resolution tools, and ensure consumer rights protection
• Rejection of unilateral trade measures based on climate or environment, such as carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAMs), which it considers to be discriminatory and misaligned with international law
• Recognition of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the BRICS group countries as effective tools for trade and industrial cooperation, and the commitment to promote rules-based trade in agriculture

While attending the BRICS Summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the formation of several new Chinese centers relating to SEZs and digital technologies. Brazil will hold the BRICS Presidency in 2025.

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) took place in Apia, Samoa from 21 to 26 October 2024. In their Leaders' Statement, the Heads of Government highlighted the following areas of priority:

• Reaffirmation of their support for the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda, which includes the goal of increasing intra-Commonwealth trade to $2t by 2030
• The importance of gender equality in trade and economic policies
• Acknowledgment of the need to ratify and implement the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and to continue reforming multilateral trade rules related to agriculture

One of the key outcomes of the CHOGM was the adoption of the Apia Commonwealth Ocean Declaration for One Resilient Common Future. The agreement aims to ensure that the 56 Commonwealth nations protect the ocean from the effects of severe climate change and overexploitation and promote its sustainable use. In the margins of CHOGM, the UK Prime Minister also announced the establishment of a UK Trade Centre of Excellence and support for the Commonwealth Investment Network.

The next CHOGM will take place in Antigua and Barbuda in 2026.

Postponement of EU Deforestation Regulation implementation

On 23 October 2024, the European Parliament adopted the request for an urgent decision on the decision to delay the implementation of the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR). This came after the European Commission on 2 October 2024 proposed to postpone EUDR implementation, which was due to come into force on 31 December 2024; the implementation would move to 30 December 2025 for large companies and 30 June 2026 for micro and small enterprises. The Council of the EU approved the postponement on 16 October 2024.

Businesses trading products under the scope of EUDR — such as coffee, cocoa, rubber, wood, palm oil and other covered products — should continue working on EUDR compliance through identifying relevant internal stakeholders, engaging key suppliers and undertaking due diligence activities.

US: Temporary Section 301 tariff exemptions for certain machinery

On 15 October 2024, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) opened a process allowing interested parties to request that certain machinery be temporarily excluded from Section 301 tariffs under the Investigation of China's Acts, Policies, and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Innovation. These tariffs include a 100% tariff on electric vehicles, 50% on semiconductors and solar cells, and 25% on battery parts, steel and aluminum products, and various critical minerals.

The temporary exclusions will cover particular machinery used in domestic manufacturing classified under eligible subheadings contained in chapters 84 and 85 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the US. The deadline to submit exclusion requests is 31 March 2025 — interested persons may submit their requests here. Any amendments to the proposal must be made by 6 November 2024.