After the recent Canadian election, Canada's national and provincial leaders have focused on plans to increase inter-provincial trade and deal with economic threats from the United States, but improving trade relations with China and dealing with trade irritants have also been important issues.

At a meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body on Friday, a panel requested by China against Canadian import taxes was blocked, and a panel requested by Canada against Chinese tariffs was removed from the agenda. These moves constitute brief delays and both panels will still be established

In a WTO complaint brought by Canada, China has contested Canada's declaration of the complaint as an "urgent" one meriting shorter timeframes.

This week, Canada and China both filed requests for WTO panels in complaints against each other, setting the stage for the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body to establish panels to hear the complaints.

There were two new developments in the China - IPRs Enforcement (EU) dispute last week: (1) China filed its own appeal, and (2) the arbitrators in the appeal were announced.

At the meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body on April 25, a panel was established to hear China's complaint regarding EU countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles.

The WTO panel report in the China - Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (DS611) dispute, brought by the EU, has now been circulated, and an appeal was filed by the EU.