Trade: US imposes "forced-labour" tariffs on 60 countries (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The United States on 23 July imposed tariffs ranging from 10 percent to 12.5 percent on 60 countries under the controversial Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 "for their failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour", an allegedly unilateral and illegal move that is inconsistent with the World Trade Organization's rules, said people familiar with the development.

Trade: WTO review underscores India's systemic role amid policy concerns (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
Many members of the World Trade Organization on 23 July expressed sharp concerns over the conduct of Indian trade policy on issues such as "predictability and transparency," "abrupt tariff changes," "unexpected export restrictions," "complex licensing requirements," and "lengthy investment approvals," as well as "lack of regulatory certainty", during India's eighth Trade Policy Review.

FRLD: $474 million available, but $2.8 billion needed for starting pipeline (PRIV)
(Chhegu Palmuu, Kathmandu)
At the ninth meeting of the Board (B.9) of the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), which met on 8-10 July in Manila, Philippines, the report by the World Bank (WB) who is the interim Trustee, revealed that only a meager sum of USD 474 million of resources is currently available, a far cry from the immediate needs of USD 2.8 billion represented by the pipeline of funding requests received under the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM) start-up phase.