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Trade Agreements 2019

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List of agreements being negotiated. Agreements that have so far been discussed only in the absence of formal action by the parties concerned are not mentioned. The EU is one of the United States` main trading partners. Similarly, the United States is Germany`s largest export market outside Europe, as well as the market in which German companies invest the most. Negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US have been suspended since Donald Trump took office in early 2017 and are not continuing. On 25 July 2018, the European Commission agreed with the US government on a trade programme to address issues of common interest. The agreed cooperation covers several areas. These include reciprocal liberalisation of trade in industrial products, with the exception of vehicles. Both sides are also considering measures to facilitate trade in a number of specific sectors (services, chemicals, medicines, health products, soybeans). In addition, the European Commission and the US government have agreed on closer cooperation on standardization and strategic cooperation in the energy sector. These include the objective of increasing imports of liquefied natural gas from the United States. The two sides also agreed on a dialogue on WTO reform and a common approach to addressing the global challenges of unfair trade practices.

The US government and the European Commission will refrain from taking action contrary to the spirit of their agreement, while work will continue on the common agenda. More information on progress in the discussions can be downloaded from the European Commission`s website. Following the discussions on 15 April 2019, the Council of the European Union has given the European Commission two negotiating mandates. It is a mandate to begin negotiations with the United States for an agreement on the removal of tariffs on industrial products and on a compliance assessment agreement. After these two terms, talks will be suspended if the United States imposes new special tariffs on EU imports. In addition, the mandate of an industrial tariff agreement stipulates that existing U.S. special tariffs on steel and aluminum imports must be removed before an agreement is reached. Vietnam: On 30 June 2019, the EU and Vietnam signed a free trade agreement and an investment protection agreement in Hanoi. Germany is Vietnam`s largest trading partner in the EU and welcomes the signing of the agreement. The free trade agreement will facilitate access for German products to the growing Vietnamese market. Like the agreement with Singapore, the Investment Protection Agreement with Vietnam sets high and precise standards for investment protection and establishes a reformed dispute settlement procedure.

The European Parliament approved both agreements on 12 February 2020. The free trade agreement came into force on August 1, 2020. The investment protection agreement must be ratified by all EU member states before it enters into force. The European Union and Japan have signed the Economic Partnership Agreement, a comprehensive trade agreement including goods, services and investment, which eliminates tariffs, non-tariff barriers and other trade-related issues, such as public procurement, regulatory issues, competition and sustainable development.

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