Trade Deals Around the World: October Edition

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October Edition World Trade News 2022

Trade Deals Around the World is our periodic update, which gives you a quick and easy overview of what has been happening in the many trade deal negotiations worldwide. We focus on the European Union and the United Kingdom and watch China and the United States. We look back at September and focus on trade deals only in this update. Negotiation teams are getting back up to steam again the world over. Happy reading!

The United Kingdom and the European Union

The United Kingdom wants to move forward with the negotiations with the European Union that are still ongoing.

Britain wants to reach an agreement with the European Union to solve post-Brexit trade to Northern Ireland issues quickly, foreign minister James Cleverly said on Thursday, suggesting a softer approach to what has been an intractable dispute.

The stand-off over part of the Brexit agreement which governs trade with Northern Ireland is by far the biggest strain between the EU and Britain.

Read more: Reuters

The United Kingdom and the United States

Things are still not going well with the negotiations on a new trade deal between the United States and the United Kingdom.

“There aren’t currently any negotiations taking place with the US and I don’t have any expectation that those are going to start in the short to medium term.”

It is the first time the government has conceded there is virtually no chance of getting an agreement on an early bilateral trade deal with the US, Britain’s biggest trading partner, despite it being coveted by Brexit supporters as one of the major potential benefits of leaving the EU.

Instead, the new prime minister said her priorities would be joining the trans-Pacific trading partnership of 11 countries, including Australia, Canada and Singapore, as well as striking deals with the Gulf States and India.

Read more: The Guardian

The United States and Kenya

Kenya is looking for a placeholder agreement while negotiations for a new trade deal between the United States and Kenya continue.

“What we are currently in discussions over is the development of a strategic trade and investment partnership which is a placeholder for a full Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) in the future,” Maina said.

In July, Kenya and the US agreed on 10 key areas of collaboration including agriculture, anti-corruption, digital economy, environment, climate change, transparency, good regulatory practices, MSMEs, workers’ rights and youth and women participation.

Read more: Mwakilishi

The European Union and Thailand

The European Union is expanding its influence in Southeast Asia with a partnership agreement with Thailand.

The EU has finally sealed a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with Thailand, its sixth with a Southeast Asian country, as both sides seek to repair relations that frayed following a military coup in Bangkok eight years ago.

It may provide the needed momentum to relaunch talks over a full free trade agreement.

Read more: Indian Express

The European Union and Indonesia

Negotiations for a Trade Deal between the European Union and Indonesia are still ongoing.

The European Union hopes to strike a free-trade agreement with Indonesia within two years despite disputes with Southeast Asia’s largest economy over palm oil and nickel, the bloc’s trade commissioner said Tuesday.

“We think it is feasible by mid-2024” to conclude a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

Read more: Barrons

The European Union and Korea

Since September, it has been possible again to export pork and poultry to the Republic of Korea.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of the Republic of Korea (MAFRA) has decided to remove a longstanding trade barrier which affected EU exports of pork and poultry products, as the Republic of Korea now recognises the EU's stringent regionalisation measures to control outbreaks of African swine fever and the highly pathogenic avian influenza. This decision could unlock over one billion euros of trade in the next years.

Read more: The European Commission

Ukraine and the UK have launched talks to negotiate a new digital trade deal to support Ukrainian businesses.

The digital trade agreement will aim to support Ukrainian businesses by cutting red tape and helping them to trade with the UK more efficiently through technology such as electronic transactions, e-signatures, and e-contracts.

It will also make it easier for UK companies to work with Ukrainian businesses and support with their economic recovery. Total trade between the UK and Ukraine was worth £1.9 billion in 2021 and UK exports of digitally delivered services accounted for 73% of all UK services exports to Ukraine in 2020.

Read more: Gov.uk

Other Reading Material

We also found an interesting article by the BBC rounding up the current Free Trade Deals that the United Kingdom has been able to do.

Brexit: What trade deals has the UK done so far? - BBC

Another excellent article shows three charts on the current state of global trade in 2022.

Global trade in goods by volume has returned to growth amid continued disruption to supply chains caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, and was 10% higher than pre-pandemic levels in May 2022.

3 charts that show the state of global trade in 2022 - and they might surprise you - World Economic Forum
 

Other News on Trade Deals