Trade : VERs on steel and aluminum or extra tariffs, says the US to allies (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The United States has threatened the Europ ean Union, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Brazil that they either fall i n line with appropriate voluntary export restraints (VERs) or quotas on steel, alu minum and other products by 1 June or face the consequences of permanent higher d uties.

Trade : Longstanding impasse over AB appointments continues (PRIV)
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva)
The United States has again blocked, for the eleventh time, efforts to launch the selection processes to fill three curr ent vacancies on the seven-member Appellate Body (AB).

Climate : Call for balanced, comparable progress on all elements of PAWP (PRIV)
(Prerna Bomzan, Bonn)
At the launch of the climate talks on 30 Apr il in Bonn, Germany, under the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement (PA), developing countries under the G77 and China called for "balanced and comparable progress" of negotiations on all elements of the P A Work Programme (PAWP).

Climate : Mode of work outlined for Paris Agreement implementation (PRIV)
(TWN, Bonn)
The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) under the UNFCCC launched work at a contact group convened on 1 May at the ongoing talks taking place in Bonn from 30 April to 10 May and calle d on Parties to "significantly increase the pace of work and build textual narra tives" in efforts to move towards a text that would be the basis for negotiations as regards the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP).