Kallas on suspension the EU-Israel agreement: “I did not see the shifting of positions in the room regarding the suspension of the agreement. Yes, there were new proposals on the table regarding the trade, so I promised to take this back to the Commissioner for Trade.”
The EU is on the cusp of another trade deal, this time upgrading the existing pact with 5 southern and eastern African countries to go beyond goods. All we be concluded by the time of a ministerial due...well, we don't know when. But watch this space borderlex.net/2026/04/21/e...
European Commission approves consortium bid for Lisbon metro line provided that Chinese subcontractor withdraws from consortium after reciving "billions" of subsidies. Chinese business community up in arms. More by me for Borderlex subscribers borderlex.net/2026/04/21/e...
EU trade commissioner @marossefcovic.bsky.social will travel to Washington this week to meet US commerce secretary Lutnick on Thursday and USTR Greer on Friday. Topics include US tariffs on metals, section 301 investigations, implementation of the joint statement, etc etc
This week the European Parliament seemed to back - orally, if not yet in votes - the upgraded trade deal with Mexico and the agreement with (big ag exporter) Australia. The times they are a changin' - check out our coverage this week over on www.borderlex.net
EU and Malaysia are eyeing concluding talks on a trade agreeement by October 2027 - but it won't be plain sailing, the commission admitted today. More by me for Borderlex subscribers below borderlex.net/2026/04/16/e...
EU #CBAM review legislation: MEPs baulk at commission’s urgency clause
By @ianadreyer.bsky.sociql
2 weeks after my visit to Cameroon and my taxi driver on the last day is still contacting me. When he left me at Yaoundé airport he asked if there was anything I could do to get him out of the country. "I would do anything, I'm a hard worker" he said.
The European Parliament is poised to ratify the upgraded EU-Mexico trade agreement with most political groups backing it. A vote in plenary could take place in July. That's what happens when you negotiate with a food importer! More by me borderlex.net/2026/04/15/e...
Interesting anecdote on EU-Mercosur - the council inserted clause to provionally apply the agreement to prevent one Mercosur country from blocking it. In the end, all the Mercosur countries ratified it, but the European Parliament still hasn't. Provisional application from 1 May
EU institutions agree to a doubling of steel tariffs to 50% and a halving (47%) of the duty-free quota. Carry-over of unused quotas allowed in first year, then up to commission's discretion. Producers happy - downstream users, not so happy. Will enter into application on 1 July.
Deputy DG in DG trade Leopoldo Rubinacci - responsible for US amongst others - will move to chair to commission's Regulatory Scrutiny Board. This rules out another potential candidiate for DG trade director-general. Redonnet still in the running!
News that Anthony Whelan will be the new head of DG Competition could open the door to a French national (Denis Redonnet?) to lead DG Trade. That post will be available very shortly.
EU firms in China may run afoul of new Chinese supply chain rules when implementing EU due diligence rules in the country, the European chamber of commerce in China said today. More by me below borderlex.net/2026/04/13/e...
Confirmation that the parties to the EU-Mercosur trade agreement will apply it from 1 May data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document...
If you export steel to the EU, stand-by for a smaller tariff-free quota and a larger out-of-quota tariff. EU institutions are on the brink of finalising the new measure, with just the issue of carry-overs still to be ironed out. More by me here borderlex.net/2026/04/09/e...
The sun shining can only mean one thing - it’s time to get out my MC14 baseball hat
Next week's meeting of the European Parliament's trade committee includes points on China, US, Malaysia, Australia and WTO, amongst others - agenda below www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/docume...
📅Another date for your diary - at the WTO ministerial 10 days ago countries punted most issues (moratorium, reform) to the next WTO general council - that general council will now happen on 6-7 May.
Post-WTO MC14, Türkiye says it looks forward to a "meaningful and forward-looking discussion" on the possible extension of the e-commerce moratorium. Says it backed a 2 year and "longer" extenstion at MC14 docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages...
It's sold out mate! You're the Céline Dion of the Brussels trade media.
US' 15% tariffs on EU pharma goods appear to comply with the Turnberry deal, the commission admitted today. But EU pharma and metals companies are still unhappy with the tariffs in general. More by me on where things stand today in EU-US tariff-land borderlex.net/2026/04/07/e...
Date for your diary - trilogue on legislation to lower tariffs on US goods is 13 April. Will last week's White House announcements of a 15% tariff on pharma and a rejig of some metals tariffs have any impact on the trilogues? Er....let me know what you think!
Flew from Brussels to Bordeaux this morning - and there was a passport control at Bordeaux airport. What’s that about, eh?
I wrote a thing on LinkedIn about my experiences and perception of Cameroon after this week’s ministerial www.linkedin.com/posts/robfra...
Closing session to begin in 30 minutes. But the vibes are negative. One ambassador told me it was “very bad”.
“What’s bad?”
“Everything.”
😬
Latest news the Cameroon ministerial as the ministerial enters extra time. Will we need penalties? Maybe borderlex.net/2026/03/29/m...
Cameroon @wto ministerial goes overtime as #ecommerce moratorium extension talks enter decisive moment. By @robfranciseu.bsky.social
#MC14
If this goes to a 5th day I’m not sure I have a spare shirt - I might need to wear my nice white MC14-branded T-shirt which I got in the press pack (and maybe the MD14 baseball hat too)
Correction: “at least” 1pm