WTO news

US President Donald Trump has vowed to impose import tariffs on $11 billion worth of goods from the European Union after the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled EU subsidies to Airbus caused “adverse effects” to the US.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) said on Monday it was weighing tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of goods from the European Union in retaliation to the subsidies allegedly provided to Boeing’s rival, Airbus.

World trade shrank by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 and is likely to grow by 2.6 percent this year, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said in an annual report.

South Africa’s and Togo’s parliaments this month ratified the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The total number of countries committing to the deal has thus grown to 49.

Ankara has won its first appeal at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against additional US tariffs imposed on steel imports, Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said. The complaint with was initiated by Turkey in August.

The EU ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has lambasted Washington's tariffs and protectionist trade policy. He called the US the “epicenter” of the crisis in the multilateral trading system.