The World Trade Organization released panel reports covering two disputes between the U.S. and India after both countries came to a mutual solution. The countries in July told the Dispute Settlement Body they reached a solution in the disputes, including one disagreement over U.S. tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum and another involving India's imposition of additional duties on certain goods from the U.S. The mutually agreed solution came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the White House in June and was announced in conjunction with the resolution of other spats between the nations at the WTO (see 2307190064).

Anabel Gonzalez, one of the World Trade Organization's deputy directors-general, said in a farewell column that although progress is being made on improving the WTO, "governments face some tough choices in the months and years to come to deal with pressing matters that, if left unchecked, could seriously erode the multilateral trading system and damage trade as an engine of growth and prosperity."

World Trade Organization members delivered "the first potential outcome on WTO reform" to be presented at the 13th Ministerial Conference by agreeing to a set of measures to boost the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) "as a transparency tool," while making Trade Policy Reviews (TPRs) more efficient, the WTO said. Coming up with the measures during a July 26 meeting on the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM), the members focused on implementing an improved information technology system to better facilitate the questions and answers process during TPRs.

Indonesia launched a safeguard investigation on slag wool, rock wool and similar mineral wools in bulk, sheets or rolls, it told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards July 27. The investigation also will cover intermixtures of slag and rock wool, WTO said. Indonesia's Safeguards Committee said it will hold a hearing on Aug. 10 to give WTO members with an interest in the case to present their views, WTO said, adding that interested parties must submit their evidence and views by Aug. 7.

The World Trade Organization's dispute settlement body during its July 28 meeting agreed to the EU's request to create a compliance panel concerning whether the U.S. fully complied with a prior panel ruling on its countervailing duties on ripe olives from Spain. During the meeting, the EU said further action was needed given the U.S. failure to fully implement the ruling and engage with the EU, a Geneva-based trade official said in an email. The U.S. said it was disappointed the bloc requested the panel, adding that under a procedural understanding between it and the EU, the U.S. accepts the compliance panel, the official said.

World Trade Organization members may lean into further discussions on "lessons learned for tech transfer," though these talks "are likely to quickly turn into whether or not voluntary mechanisms are sufficient and how the governments should step in to correct," three Akin Gump attorneys said in a recent blog post. These discussions will likely include talks on intellectual property, echoing the saga on the Trade Related Intellectual Property (TRIPS) waiver, which will "unhelpfully" reinvigorate whether" IP enables or hinders crisis response.

The Dominican Republic violated its World Trade Organization commitments under the Anti-Dumping Agreement when imposing duties on corrugated steel bars from Costa Rica, a World Trade Organization dispute panel said in a July 27 report. The panel said the Dominican Republic's Regulatory Commission on Unfair Trade Practices and Safeguard Measures "failed to comply with the requirement" to make the comparison between the export price and normal value with sales made at "nearly as possible the same time."

World Trade Organization members during a July 24-25 meeting of the General Council looked at a "road map" for carrying out reform discussions related to the body's deliberative function, the WTO said. The General Council chair, Botswana's Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme, pointed to various "stations" where members will need to set up the topics to address to make sure WTO reform is addressed at the 13th Ministerial Conference in February 2024.

The World Trade Organization on July 24 elected the United Arab Emirates' foreign trade minister, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, chairperson for the 13th Ministerial Conference. The ministerial conference will take place Feb. 26-29 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

The World Trade Organization members taking part in a July 18 Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform initiative meeting swapped views on "three key areas" where the WTO could boost the FFSR's efforts ahead of the 13th Ministerial Conference in February, the WTO said. The areas are the "use of WTO mechanisms to enhance transparency on fossil fuel subsidy reform," greater analytical work to identify subsidies from a trade-distorting and environmental perspective and "developing best practice approaches to ensure that any fossil fuel support measures adopted during energy crises remain targeted, transparent and temporary in nature." The initiative will meet again "in the autumn" to prepare for MC13.