Today, the European Commission initiated its first investigation under its International Procurement Instrument (IPI), in response to measures and practices in the Chinese procurement market for medical devices which it says "discriminate unfairly against European companies and products."

At a meeting of the WTO's Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures today, issues related to the EU's countervailing duty investigation on Chinese electric vehicles, subsidies and overcapacity, and U.S. semiconductor subsidies were all discussed.

In official notices published yesterday, the European Commission has provided additional details on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation investigation it is undertaking in relation to a public procurement contract for a Romanian government solar project, based on Chinese subsidies to some of the companies involved.

In a recent CNN interview, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai offered a number of comments on China trade issues, including overcapacity, the current Section 301 tariffs, and former President Trump's proposed tariffs on China.

Last week, UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden gave a speech at Chatham House on economic security in which he indicated that the UK would be ratcheting up its efforts on national security reviews of inbound investment, outbound investment, and export controls.

At a Council on Foreign Relations event last week, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis discussed a number of China trade issues, including the general EU approach to China trade relations, whether the EU is rethinking MFN, and future prospects for unilateral trade action against China.

This past week, CTM covered the following issues. In China: * Xi-Scholz meeting * China-El Salvador trade talks  * New investment rules on value-added telecom business * Phasing out U.S. chips in telecom system * Comments on U.S. Section 301 investigation on shipbuilding and tariffs on Chinese metals  * Comments on U.S. industrial