Europe

Following high-level meetings and a congressional staff visit, Switzerland is rising on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s list of targets for a free trade deal, sources tell Inside U.S. Trade.

The European Union is vetting a plan for an interim alternative to the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body, which may be unable to hear appeals in December because the U.S. refuses to lift a block on nominations to the panel.

Boris Johnson, a hardline Brexit supporter, is a frontrunner for the job, which would significantly increase the likelihood of a no-deal exit from the EU.

Ministers said they instructed staff to “continue efforts to finalize trilateral text-based work ... to engage with other key WTO Members with the aim of initiating negotiations on stronger disciplines on industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May is facing increasing pressure from her own Conservative Party to step down amid expectations that a scheduled fourth vote on her Brexit deal in two weeks will fail, even after she announced on Tuesday a series of concessions -- including a vote on alternative customs arrangements and an offer to give Parliament a voice in post-Brexit trade negotiating objectives.

A round up of reactions to the Trump administration’s auto tariff delay announcement.

May is still in negotiations with the opposition party to gain the support needed for Parliament to approve the deal.

“The reason autos are very important to our trade picture is about half of our trade deficit comes from the single product – automotive.”