EU trade-defense case backlog prompting companies to seek fraudbusters' help
May 08, 2026
| Cynthia Kroet and Oscar Pandiello
Rising use of trade diversion schemes to evade EU duties is a growing concern, the EU’s anti-fraud office, OLAF, has warned, and European companies are increasingly bringing complaints to it as the European Co... (more story)
SEP policy gets only brief mention in USTR’s IP trade report
May 07, 2026
| Nick Robertson
Despite lengthy comments from numerous IP stakeholders, standard essential patent (SEP) policy issues got little attention in the Office of US Trade Representative’s annual Special 301 report on IP trade. But ... (more story)
Ramped-up Section 232 enforcement looms over shaky EU-US trade truce
May 07, 2026
| Zack Budryk
The US government has ramped up Section 232 enforcement in 2026, particularly against European imports, potentially complicating a relative détente on trade between the US and Europe that includes a new cooper... (more story)
China's first-ever blocking order targets spillover of US sanctions
May 07, 2026
| MLex Staff
China has activated its blocking mechanism for the first time, ordering companies not to comply with US Iran-related sanctions imposed on five Chinese refiners. The move marks the first public use of China’s 2... (more story)
US importer group pushing for change to Trump’s trade zone restrictions
May 05, 2026
| Bradley Dress
The National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones is pushing for the Trump administration to reverse course on a major change to foreign trade zones that eliminated a means to import finished goods at lower prices.
Renewed US tariff threats against EU cast shadow over trade-deal talks
May 05, 2026
| Oscar Pandiello and Cynthia Kroet
Fresh US tariff threats are exposing a split in Brussels over whether to fast-track the EU-US trade deal or to include safeguards, ahead of Wednesday’s next round of political negotiations on the deal between ... (more story)
USTR's forced-labor probe mostly China focused, raising questions in broad probe
May 01, 2026
| Bradley Dress and Zack Budryk
The majority of public comments in the US trade investigation into forced labor from 60 countries center on allegations against China and Southeast Asian countries, raising questions of whether an evidentiary ... (more story)
EU capitals’ initial skepticism at industrial plan means hard task for Séjourné
April 30, 2026
| Cynthia Kroet
The EU Industrial Accelerator Act, published in early March, is meant to boost the bloc’s economy while reducing dependencies on other regions. But EU member states' initial discussions on the proposal raised ... (more story)