On 12 November 2018, the Vietnam National Assembly ratified the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP”), which came into effect on 30 December 2018 for the first six ratifying Members and on 14 January 2019 for Vietnam.
The Agreement between the European Union and Japan for an Economic Partnership, signed in Tokyo on 17 July 2018, will enter into force on 1 February 2019.
On 12 December 2018, the European Parliament gave its consent (474 votes for to 152 against with 40 abstentions) to the EU’s trade agreement with Japan, the largest bilateral trade deal ever negotiated by the EU. The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement will remove almost all custom duties adding up to €1 billion annually for EU companies. It represents a clear stance in support of rules-based, free and fair trade “at a time of serious protectionist challenges”. A Parliament announcement said:
The WTO announced that at the 17 October 2018, meeting, Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) parties reviewed the UK’s revised market access offer as part of its bid to join the GPA in its own right after its departure from the European Union. All GPA parties that spoke expressed a clear desire that the UK continue to participate in the Agreement in a seamless manner post-Brexit, on terms that are mutually acceptable.
The WTO announced that on 17 October 2018, parties to the WTO plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) unanimously approved a decision to welcome Australia as the 48th WTO member to be covered by the Agreement. Australia will officially become a GPA party 30 days after submitting its Instrument of Accession to the WTO’s Director-General.
On October 12, 2018, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) announced that it has instituted an investigation to assess the likely impact of a trade agreement that the President has announced he intends to enter into with Mexico and Canada.
The investigation, United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement: Likely Impact on the U.S. Economy and on Specific Industry Sectors, was requested by the U.S. Trade Representative in a letter received on August 31, 2018.
On 17 July 2018, the European Commission announced that the EU and Japan had signed the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) at the EU-Japan summit in Tokyo. The announcement said that the trade agreement is the biggest ever negotiated by the EU and will create an open trade zone covering over 600 million people. The announcement also said:
As the trade conflict between the United States and China continues, three free trade agreements are pressing ahead, including– the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), soon to enter into force, the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (JEEPA), recently signed and which represents 30% of global economic output, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an agreement that includes both India and China and comprises the largest trading block in the region.
On June 15, 2018, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published in the Federal Register an interim rule [FAC 2005-99; FAR Case 2017-018; Item II; Docket No. 2017- 0018, Sequence No. 1] amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Pub. L. 114- 328, codified at 22 U.S.C. 2593e) that addresses measures against persons involved in activities that violate arms control treaties or agreements with the United States. Written comments are due on or before August 14, 2018.
On May 10, 2018, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice announcing that USTR and the Secretary of Commerce have established a new four-year charter term ending in February 2022, and are accepting applications from qualified individuals interested in serving as a member of an Industry Trade Advisory Committee (ITAC). The ITACs provide detailed policy and technical advice, information, and recommendations to the Commerce Secretary and the USTR regarding trade barriers, negotiation of trade agreements, and implementation of existing trade agreements affecting industry sectors, and perform other advisory functions relevant to US trade policy matters.