The Week in Trade: A raft of reports, EV tariff sparring continues and speculation over the next EC trade commissioner grows

Another interesting week in the world of imports and exports brought a series of report releases on international trade and new moves in the global electric vehicle (EV) tariff row.

There’s also a new frontrunner for European trade head, as EU commissioner announcements were deferred to next week, and the Charted Institute of Export & International Trade launched a new member-exclusive event.

Big picture: The cosmic ballet that is tariffs and EVs continues.

The FT reported that China is facing increasing tariffs across many of its exports, from both developed and developing countries. As reported previously by the Daily Update, countries including Malaysia, Chile and Brazil were slapping tariffs on steel imports. That trend is continuing, as Turkey and Brazil have hit Chinese EVs with tariffs, but are using the policy to encourage direct investment.

Meanwhile, EU leaders have hinted that they could walk back some of the provisional tariffs set to be imposed on Beijing’s EV exports, as Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez said that the EU should “reconsider” its stance on tariffs.

“I think we need to build bridges between the EU and China, and what we will do from Spain is being constructive and try to find a solution and compromise between China and the European Commission,” Sanchez said during a visit to Kunshan with Chinese officials.

Beijing launched a probe into the EU’s pork products, which could hit Spain harder than other European countries. Last year, Spanish pork exports to China totalled US$1.5bn, significantly more than the second and third closest European nations, according to Reuters.

However, Olof Gill, the European Commission’s (EC) trade spokesman, said that the EC had  rejected efforts by Chinese EV manufacturers to tone down the measures.

Bloomberg reported that investors were skittish on European EV stocks, as the sector faced weakened demand in China, fears of a trade war and new emissions regulations. BMW, Porsche and Volkswagen have all cut their profit expectations for the year.

Good week/bad week: It’s been a good week for Jozef Síkela. The Czech trade and industry minister is now the front runner to a take over as Ursala von der Leyen’s next trade minister. According to European official insiders, Síkela has overtaken his Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, in the last week. A Czech minister told state TV that he expected the former banker to take the role, although warned that the “situation could still change”. Von der Leyen is expected to announce her final lineup on Tuesday.

It's been a bad week for the nuclear power industry. Russian president Vladmir Putin has hinted at curbing exports of uranium, according to Russian state news agency TASS, as well as titanium and nickel. The autocrat has said he would impose “certain restrictions” in retaliation for Western sanctions. Given Russia’s control over sources of the minerals vital for nuclear power, analysts warned the FT that the uranium industry “has been fearing” potential curbs to exports like these.

How’s stat? £348,000. That’s the total amount of compound settlements issued to two, unnamed companies by HMRC. According to a Notice to Exporters, a fine of £258,000 was imposed for unlicensed transfer of dual-use goods in April, while another company was slapped with a fine of over £90,000 for unlicensed exports of military goods in June.

The week in customs: The Department for Environment, Farming & Rural Affairs (Defra) said it was working to resolve a technical issue that had impact some digital services.

You can read more here about the issue and Defra’s solutions.

Quote of the week: “The importance of empowering small businesses to reap the benefits of global trade is a must, it is a key we use the power of trade tech to harness this potential and explore emerging markets.”

Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade director general, Marco Forgione, on the release of the ‘Small business, big world’ whitepaper on how to boost SME exports using e-commerce, a collaboration between the Social Market Foundation and the E-Commerce Trade Commission.

What else we covered this week: The Chartered Institute produced a white paper on the seven skills needed to succeed in international trade, including how to maximise opportunity and reduce risk by investing in skills for your team.

Former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi released the much-awaited ‘The Future of European Competitiveness’ report on the EU economy and how it can better prepare for the future.

WTO director general, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, called for international trade to become more “inclusive” at the WTO’s Public Forum in Geneva this week, as she launched the 2024 edition of the World Trade Report.

The Chartered Institute also launched the first of its ‘Connect & Grow’ events for its members.

Commodity in Focus looked at the problems steel was facing, both in the UK and US, and the role politics was playing in how governments responded to changes in their domestic industries.

True facts: According to research highlighted in ‘Small business, big world’, a 1% increase in a country’s digital connectivity has been linked to a 1.5% boost to international trade. A significant finding that supports embedding trade tech adoption within strategies to boost trade.