Below is a summary of the top stories this week.  To stay up-to-date, be sure to sign up to receive our emails and follow us on social media.

• The situation between the U.S. and China continues to show signs of further deterioration, the U.S. consulate in Chengdu officially shut down in retaliation for Houston closure.   NPR released  a timeline of U.S. – China relations.  Here is a recap on Huawei and TikTok. PIIE tracked China’s purchases of U.S. goods through June and showed that they remain at 47% of the of the targets of the Phase one deal.
• China offers $1 billion loan to Latin America and the Caribbean for access to its Covid-19 vaccine.
• For an update on the EU tariffs and Airbus situation click here.
• Brazil’s steelmakers say U.S. is pressuring to lower export quotas.  Reminder, the Trump Administration has recently announced new tariffs on Canadian aluminum.
• Several weeks ago, France imposed a digital tax on U.S. companies that do not do business there- U.S. response and recap here.  France’s President Macron has recently stated that he wanted the European Union to work towards levying an EU-wide digital tax on big tech multinationals.  Ireland opposes it.
• EU to consider new tax proposals to repay new debt from the breakthrough 750 billion euros deal for COVID-19 recovery.
• WTO semi-annual trade monitoring report states that member countries have imposed trade restrictions on approximately $1.7 trillion in importing goods since 2009.  “Between mid-October 2019 and mid-May 2020, WTO members implemented 363 new trade and trade-related measures, 198 of them trade-facilitating and 165 trade-restrictive. Most of them, 256 (about 71 per cent) were linked to the pandemic,” the WTO said.
• Free Trade Agreement horizon: the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Vietnam will enter into force on August 1, 2020 and will liberalize the majority of the import duties imposed by the EU and Vietnam for goods originating from the other country.  Here is a summary from Ernst & Young
• U.S. – UK deal not likely before the November election. The BBC summarizes what trade deals has the UK done so far
• Be sure to visit U.S. Dept of Commerce/ITA site for information on cases, duties and other announcements here.

After 15 years, it’s time to say goodbye to our home at PortMiami. Our sign is now gone. A special thank you goes to Juan Kuryla, Port Director & CEO of PortMiami, and his staff for all their support and partnership for so many years. We will miss seeing them every day.