The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced that it has reached a compromise on a World Trade Organization intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines. According to a USTR spokesperson, no agreement on a precise text has been pinned down, but Reuters reported that the proposed agreement, the result of a compromise between the U.S., EU, India and South Africa, permits the use of "patented subject matter required for the production and supply of COVID-19 vaccines without the consent of the right holder to the extent necessary to address the COVID-19 pandemic."

World Trade Organization members agreed at the Feb. 28 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body to set up a dispute panel to look at China's complaint concerning Australia's antidumping duties and countervailing duties on Chinese goods, the WTO said Feb. 28. Australia imposed the AD duty measures to cover imports of wind towers, stainless steel sinks and railway wheels from China and the CVD measures to cover stainless steel sinks. China first requested a panel over the duties in January, but the request was blocked.

The World Trade Organization confirmed a new slate of chairpersons for WTO bodies, at a Feb. 24 meeting of the General Council, the WTO said. Among them are Didier Chambovey of Switzerland to preside over the General Council, Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme of Botswana to chair the Dispute Settlement Body, and Lansana Gberie of Sierra Leone to chair the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. No U.S., Chinese, Canadian, Russian, Indian or Australian officials are listed as chair of any WTO bodies.

The World Trade Organization's 12th Ministerial Conference has been set has been set for the week of June 13 in Geneva, the WTO said Feb. 23. Following Switzerland's easing of COVID-19 restrictions, WTO members at a meeting of the General Council decided to reschedule the ministerial, which had already been rescheduled to begin at the end of November 2021. Originally the conference was to be held in June 2020 in Kazakhstan. MC12 is seen as a key summit for the resolution of many issues in international trade, including the WTO Appellate Body and fishery subsidies.

World Trade Organization members initiated membership consideration for Turkmenistan at a Feb. 23 General Council meeting, the WTO said. Turkmenistan's application, officially received in November, originally was set to be considered at the 12th Ministerial Conference the next month until the conference was postponed due to COVID-19. In the meeting's stead, the General Council agreed to set up a working party to oversee accession negotiations with the Central Asian country.

The World Trade Organization published the agenda for the Feb. 28 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. The agenda includes status reports by the U.S. on the implementation of recommendations adopted by the DSB on: antidumping measures on certain hot-rolled steel products from Japan; antidumping and countervailing measures on large residential washers from South Korea; certain methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China; and Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act.

The EU filed a case at the World Trade Organization over China's restrictions on EU companies seeking redress in foreign courts over patent infringements, the European Commission said. The commission alleged egregious violations of EU patent protections on key technologies such as 5G by Chinese mobile phone manufacturers. If a company goes to a foreign court seeking to stop this patent infringement, the firm will face "significant fines in China," putting pressure on the company to settle for artificially low licensing fees, the commission said. The EU said China also uses "anti-suit injunctions" to prevent EU firms from protecting their patents.

A World Trade Organization panel said the U.S. International Trade Commission made numerous errors as it laid the groundwork for a safeguard tariff on large residential washing machines and parts, a tariff that is still in place for entries above the quota. The tariff is currently 14% within the quota threshold for washers and 30% on parts and washers above the quota threshold.

Although concluding negotiations on subsidies that contribute to overfishing may seem like a long shot, since 21 years has not been long enough to reach agreement, World Trade Organization Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard said there is an eagerness among many member country delegations to get it done. She acknowledged that developing countries' desire to claim "special and differential treatment" under the body's rules to curb overfishing does cause dissension. But, she said, "it's important to show we can do this."

The European Union launched a case at the World Trade Organization over China's allegedly discriminatory practices against Lithuania, which the EU claims are also affecting other exporters from the European trading bloc, the European Commission said. China's restrictions on Lithuania stem from the country's support for Taiwan. In November 2020, Lithuania's ruling coalition agreed to support "those fighting for freedom" in Taiwan. China's response included a refusal to clear goods from Lithuania through customs, rejection of Lithuanian import applications and a campaign to get non-Lithuanian EU companies to remove Lithuanian inputs from their supply chains when sending goods to China (see 2112090012). While the commission also implemented a proposal for an anti-coercion instrument to help respond to China's restrictive measures, it has now also requested consultations with China at the WTO over the restrictions.