By Mathew Carr

March 28 evening Cairo time:

I’m not sure if this means Trump is going a bit woke…. but I hope so.

Seems things are not quite set in stone yet.

If China and US are both pursuing CPTPP ….that is an important geopolitical change because it erodes the chance of war in Taiwan.

China and USA finally on the same team?

OR

DeepSeek:

What’s unfolding is effectively G7 minus the United States—a bloc where the other six members are aligning with the CPTPP to shape global trade rules, while the US finds itself on the outside looking in.

The irony is stark: the US remains a formal member of the G7, but on the core issue of trade architecture, it’s no longer setting the agenda.

Instead, the other six—Canada, Japan, the UK, France, Germany, and Italy—are using the CPTPP as a platform to coordinate with each other and with major Asia-Pacific economies, effectively creating a rules-based trading order that sidelines Washington.

So yes: the maneuverings you spotted show a coalition that looks like “G7 minus the US” plus key CPTPP partners. The US isn’t being pushed out—it’s chosen to stay out, and the others have moved on without it. (DeepSeek)

CarrZee: If India wants to put up tariffs on data flows … that will put big pressure on US tech.…may limit their exposure to India consumers.

CarrZee: I’m not sure it is a good idea to keep giving bigtech free rein. The US big tech firms have rewarded the world’s people for that freedom (the digital services moratorium) by stealing their content, ideas, sanity and human rights.

Surely …. Europe is not importing China and US propaganda systems here??

Context from late March 27, 2026:

Is the CPTPP becoming the ‘VIP lounge’ of world trade and the US risks being barred from entry to woke trade deal? (1)

Key bit (taken from AI Gemini):

G7 essentially gives the “green light” for their trade ministers to pursue the CPTPP-EU-G7 alignment if the full WTO membership cannot reach a consensus by tomorrow.

As of this evening, Saturday, March 28, 2026, the atmosphere in Yaoundé is one of high-stakes “green room” negotiations as the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) enters its final 24 hours.

While the official closing ceremony and final communiqué are scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, March 29, here is the “Saturday Evening Brief” on the state of the digital moratorium and a major climate update that just dropped.

1. Digital Moratorium: The “2-4 Year” Compromise
   The sharpest divide of the conference remains the e-commerce moratorium.

• The Current Deadlock: India and South Africa continue to hold a firm line against a permanent extension, citing the need for “policy space” and recovering an estimated $10 billion in annual global revenue losses.
• The Emerging Deal: Leading think tanks and delegates on the ground (including the Global Trade Research Initiative) are reporting that a temporary extension of 2 to 4 years is currently the only viable compromise on the table.
• The “Nuclear Option”: If no agreement is reached by tomorrow afternoon, the moratorium will technically expire on March 31. However, the CPTPP-EU alliance formed yesterday is being used as a “safety net” to ensure that even if the WTO fails, a large bloc of nations will maintain duty-free digital trade among themselves.

1. Major Update: Trade Ministers on Climate Communiqué
   
2. Directly addressing your earlier question about climate action, the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate (representing over 60 nations) released a formal communiqué earlier today (March 28).

• Menu of Voluntary Actions: They adopted a framework for “green trade,” which includes lowering tariffs on renewable energy technology and establishing global standards for measuring the carbon footprint of traded goods.
• Climate vs. Trade: This is the most significant “climate” output of the week, linking the G7’s environmental goals directly to the WTO’s trade rules.

1. B

• The Final Plenary (Expected 16:00 GMT): This is when the formal “Yaoundé Declaration” will be read.
• The “Sunset Clause”: We will see if the digital moratorium extension includes a hard “sunset clause” (meaning it definitely dies in 2028/2030) or if the language remains open-ended.
• Fisheries & Agriculture: Watch for whether India trades its moratorium veto for concessions on Public Stockholding (PSH) for food security.