Cross-border
EU-Chile Interim Trade Agreement
On February 1, the EU-Chile Interim Trade Agreement (ITA) entered into force. The ITA aims to boost competitiveness for businesses across both jurisdictions, while providing a foundation for ongoing initiatives, such as the development of critical raw materials value chains for lithium and copper, and the Production of Green Hydrogen in Chile. The key benefits of the ITA include:
- Tariff Elimination: 99.9% of EU exports to Chile will be tariff-free
- Raw Materials Access: Ensures sustainable access to critical raw materials like lithium and copper
- Investment and Services: Facilitates EU companies’ investment and service provision in Chile
- Sustainability: Includes commitments to sustainable trade, gender equality, and resilient food supply chains
- Intellectual Property: Protects intellectual property rights and geographical indications
First EU-Central Asia summit scheduled for 3-4 April
On 3-4 April 2025, the first EU-Central Asia summit will be hosted by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan. Leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan will also be participating. The increasing importance of the Central Asia region to EU strategic interests led to the adoption of a new EU strategy for Central Asia in 2019, focused on economic and political development. The upcoming summit will focus on cooperation in areas such as transport and digital connectivity, critical raw materials, economic and security cooperation and the energy transition.
UK joins the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
On 15 December, the UK officially became a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). This move will strengthen UK’s trade ties with Asia-Pacific Countries and is expected to diversify supply chains and open new markets. By joining the CPTPP, UK businesses, particularly those with a significant footprint in the Indo-Pacific region, will benefit in various ways, including:
- favorable trading terms with other CPTPP members
- improved trade efficiency, with the benefit of greater transparency as regards import and export procedures across borders
- greater supply chain flexibility and diversification of export destinations, simplified export procedures and creation of job opportunities
- preferential import tariffs (potentially leading to lower consumer costs), and
- greater legal certainty and more robust protection for investors in areas such as intellectual property rights protection, and the use of non-discriminatory treatment and transparent dispute settlement mechanisms
Key global contacts
Please reach out to one of our Global Supply Chain key contacts for more information.
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