World Events Summary: 23rd – 29th January 2018

US Trade: Trump imposed broad tariffs on U.S. imports of Washing Machines and Solar cells. This provoked Beijing’s criticism, while South Korea initiated two cases against the U.S. at the WTO. The controversial 292% tariffs imposed by the U.S. Commerce Department on Bombardier’s C-Class were overturned by the U.S. International Trade Commission due to a lack of perceived injury to Boeing. 

WTO Blockage: continued U.S. blocking of appointments to the WTO dispute resolution mechanism has resulted in a growing backlog of cases. The Trump strategy appears to be threatening the WTO with unviability unless the current rules of the trade game are substantially reworked, favouring the U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said trade wars have been going on for some time already. 

TPP11 Agree: the 11 countries, representing c.15% of global trade volumes, decided to push ahead with a deal (renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership – CPATPP) after the U.S. withdrew at the beginning of Trump’s presidency. The deal is a pared-down version of the full TPP, suspending the chapters which the U.S. had alone insisted upon insertion.