Ukraine, U.S. to discuss annulment of duty on supplies of metal products to U.S. at meeting of trade, investment council on Nov 1
Ukraine at a meeting of the Ukraine –United States Trade and Investment Council will discuss the issues of tariff and non-tariff barriers in trade, as well as cooperation in the sphere of digital services, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, Ukraine's trade representative Taras Kachka has said.
"The meeting will be held all day long. We will discuss various issues, including issues of possible additional concessions on tariffs, where they apply, especially regarding recently introduced metallurgy safeguard duties, under Section 232. We will discuss individual measures, antidumping and others," he said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Monday.
On March 23, 2018, the United States imposed a 25% duty on imports of all types of steel products, including originated from Ukraine. Subsequently, six countries – Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Canada and Mexico – achieved their exclusion from the 25% duty. Ukraine also conducted relevant negotiations with the White House, however, for several reasons, the negotiation process was postponed.
"In addition, we have a large set of questions on non-tariff barriers, where we need certification or recognition of documents confirming the possibility of access to the market. This applies to food and industrial products. Both sides raise more and more questions," the trade representative said.
The way to resolve many of these issues lies through the conclusion of bilateral protocols on the recognition of certification or a full-scale agreement, Kachka said.
"Another issue that we will discuss is cooperation in the field of digital services. The United States is quite active in the legal regulation of these things... For us it is interesting. We have many ties with the United States," Kachka said.
According to him, in the context of cooperation in the field of digital services, this is not about conventional trade, but about the IT sphere, startups and e-commerce.
"This is a priority for the future," he said.
Kachka also said that the parties intend to discuss further plans for cooperation in these areas: "We do not expect that on November 1 we will agree on some kind of agreement. We expect agreements on what steps we will take."
