The United States has lodged an appeal against a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling that some of President Donald Trump’s trade war tariffs on China were unlawful, according to a Geneva trade official.

A trade working group within the framework of the Ministerial-level Vietnam-Australia Economic Partnership Meeting convened an online meeting on October 27.

WTO members participating in the negotiation of rules on e-commerce shared updates on the work done to streamline the negotiating text at a plenary meeting on 23 October. The co-conveners, Australia, Japan and Singapore, encouraged members to propose constructive solutions and show flexibility in an effort to deliver a consolidated negotiating text by December this year.

On September 10, an American company went to court to get a tariff refund. It argues that some of Trump’s tariffs against China are illegal, and that these duties have cost it dearly. The case, filed by HMTX, a vinyl tile maker, is at the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT). Win or lose, HMTX has challenged Trump’s narrative about tariffs. Some 3,500 companies are now in the litigation. Congress should pay attention.

Vietnam’s tuna exports to the Middle East and Africa have seen positive signs since the beginning of the year despite declines in overall seafood exports in the face of COVID-19, First Secretary and Head of the Trade Office at the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt Nguyen Duy Hung said on October 25.

Vietnam always considers the US one of its most important partners and wishes to continue developing its comprehensive partnership with the country, especially in economic, trade, and investment cooperation, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has told US officials.

Vietnam’s pepper exports have shown signs of recovery, coming in at US$45 million in September, a year-on-year surge of 22.2%.

China ramped up purchases of American goods in September as its economy strengthened, though it still remains far from the full-year target set out under its Phase One trade deal with the U.S.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held phone talks on October 27 with the UK’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is now Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

Last Friday, after signing the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa), trade secretary Liz Truss described it as a historic and a landmark moment. In truth, while the agreement has a certain political significance, its economic impact is likely to be very small. It contains very limited improvements relative to the trade deal the UK enjoyed with Japan through its EU membership - the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which entered into force in February 2019.