Trade deals van over de hele wereld: augustus

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In de serie “Handelsverdragen van over de hele wereld” geven we je een maandelijkse update waarin je snel kunt lezen wat er gebeurd in de vele onderhandelingen die er gaande zijn op het gebied van handelsverdragen.

De zomer is in volle gang. Veel mensen zijn op vakantie of staan op het punt om op vakantie te gaan. Voor sommige onderhandelaars is er geen tijd voor vakantie. Dat geldt vooral voor de onderhandelaars van de Europese Unie en het Verenigd Koninkrijk. De klok tikt door en beide partijen werken er hard aan om te proberen voor het einde van het jaar nog een deal te sluiten. 

In deze editie ga ik niet in op de onderhandelingen tussen de Europese Unie en het Verenigd Koninkrijk. Lees hierover meer in mijn blog Barnier: “Brexit Deal onwaarschijnlijk” en “Brexit Deal is mogelijk”. Wat is het nu?

Het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Japan

Toen we voor het laatst schreven over de onderhandelingen tussen deze twee landen, liepen die onderhandelingen niet zo goed. Sindsdien is er flinke vooruitgang geboekt. 

Bloomberg schrijft hierover:

An agreement in principle is expected in coming weeks, according to a person familiar with the U.K. side of the talks, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are private. The discussions haven’t yet concluded, and some issues still need to be resolved, the person added.

Trade between Britain and Japan was valued at more than 39 billion pounds ($51 billion) last year, and Japan is the U.K.’s eleventh-largest export market globally. When talks started in June, U.K. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said she wanted to go beyond the EU’s existing deal and bolster trade in digital services and data.

Lees het hele artikel hier.

De Europese Unie en Vietnam

Het handelsverdrag tussen de Europese Unie en Vietnam is van kracht sinds 1 augustus.

De Europese Commissie schrijft hierover in haar persbericht:

EU exports to Vietnam will be taxed less as of tomorrow, 1 August. This is the immediate effect of the entry into force of the EU-Vietnam trade agreement that will ultimately scrap duties on 99% of all goods traded between the two sides. Doing business in Vietnam will also become easier for European companies: they will now be able to invest and pitch for government contracts with equal chances to their local competitors. Under the new agreement, the economic benefits go hand in hand with guarantees of respect for labour rights, environment protection and the Paris Agreement on climate, through strong, legally binding and enforceable provisions on sustainable development.

Lees het hele persbericht hier

De Verenigde Staten en China

Terwijl China er alles aan doet om zich aan de afspraken van het Fase 1 verdrag te houden, zit Trump op een ander spoor.

China made its largest one-day purchase of US corn on record on Tuesday, its second massive purchase for the agricultural staple in less than a week as it tries to comply with its deal with America.

China on Friday increased its corn and soybean import forecasts for the current season, as the country is expected to step up purchases from the US.

Lees het hele verhaal hier.

Forbes schrijft over het feit dat Trump juist niet door wil met de onderhandelingen.

President Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that he isn’t even considering a phase two trade deal with China, saying that the relationship between the two countries has been “severely damaged” by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Trump’s comments come as the countries continue to clash on a wide range of issues: The president has blamed the Chinese government for failing to contain the coronavirus outbreak, while U.S. lawmakers have also increasingly pushed back on China increasing its grip over Hong Kong.

...

“They could have stopped the plague, they could have stopped it, they didn’t stop it,” Trump said on Friday about China’s handling of the pandemic.

Lees het hele verhaal hier.

China antwoordt hier een stuk subtieler op.

China said on Thursday it will stick to the Phase 1 trade deal it reached with the United States earlier this year but warned that it will respond to “bullying” tactics from Washington, as relations continue to deteriorate.

The New York Times reported that the United States is considering a travel ban against all members of China’s ruling Communist Party, a move that would further strain an increasingly confrontational relationship.

Hua told reporters during a daily briefing that such a ban, if true, would be “pathetic.”

Asked whether the recent sanctions imposed by Washington will impact the trade deal, Hua told reporters that China hopes the agreement can still be implemented.

Lees het hele verhaal hier.

Het Asia-Pacific Trade Pact

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), also known as TPP11 or TPP-11, is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. It evolved from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which never entered into force due to the withdrawal of the United States. At the time of its signing, the eleven countries' combined economies represented 13.4 percent of the global gross domestic product (approximately US$13.5 trillion), making the CPTPP the third largest free-trade area in the world by GDP after the North American Free Trade Agreement and European Single Market. 

(Bron: Wikipedia

Thailand is considering joining CPTPP, but is not sure it wants to.

Thailand will take until September to study whether to join a trans-Pacific free trade agreement, potentially missing a window for entry this year amid widespread concern that joining the pact may harm its farm and healthcare sectors.

And China is also considering joining.

China is expressing an interest in joining the updated Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement, which was originally designed as the centrepiece of the Obama administration’s ‘pivot to Asia’, intended to cement a non-Chinese Asian regional group.

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China would derive many advantages from joining the grouping, but one of the most important is that regional supply chains are secured by the mutual tariff cuts and the rules of origin which require goods benefiting from those cuts to have been made from inputs largely sourced within the region.

This is also a benefit that flows from the other major regional trade treaty that is expected to be concluded this year, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which includes Japan, South Korea, the 10 ASEAN nations, Australia and New Zealand. It reduces the US’s ability to disrupt the trade of high-tech goods with China.

Overig nieuws over handelsverdragen

Oekraïne en Egypte: Ukraine is initiating negotiations on Preferential Trade Agreement with Egypt

Oekraïne en Turkije: Ukraine, Turkey to prepare Free Trade Area agreement

China en Cambodja: China, Cambodia Conclude ‘Mutually Beneficial’ Free Trade Agreement

India en de Europese Unie: India-EU virtual summit to focus on limited trade deal, bilateral investment treaty

India en het Verenigd Koninkrijk: India in talks with EU for trade deal, open to pact with UK

Australië en Hong Kong: Calls for Australia to axe free trade deal with Hong Kong amid China crackdown

Taiwan en China: Taiwan Preps for Possible End to Landmark Trade Deal with China

De Europese Unie en Mercosur: EU watchdog to probe trade pact with South American nations

Kenia en de Verenigde Staten: US and Kenya to begin negotiating free trade agreement

Kenia en het Verenigd Koninkrijk: Kenya, UK to negotiate post Brexit trade agreement