Deals were inked in Asia this week: A sustainability agreement between Costa Rica, Iceland, New Zealand and Switzerland and Taiwan and Thailand upgraded their investment agreement.
Commentary – all
ASIA TRADE: Korea seeks mineral deal, Sri Lanka-Malaysia, Japan-Chile
This week in Asian trade policy: South Korea’s president toured Central Asia and signed deals on critical mineral supply chains. Sri Lanka and Malaysia agreed to begin negotiations on a free trade agreement – and Japan and Chile upgraded cooperation on mineral resources.
Comment: EU 2024 elections could herald a trade policy of the ‘returns coordinator’
The far-right shift in European Union mainstream politics is set to reach a new stage in the coming parliament elections. It has already infected the EU’s trade policy as witnessed by interinstitutional negotiations over trade preferences for developing countries. Will the infection spread to other trade policy areas in the …
ASIA TRADE: China-Korea-Japan revive FTA plans, Indonesia CPTPP
This week in Asian trade policy news: South Korea, Japan and China agreed to speed up discussions for a potential trilateral free trade agreement and Indonesia announced its plan to apply for membership to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
ASIA TRADE: Taiwan’s worsening trade policy predicament
Western democracies – as in the G7 – more outspokenly express support Taiwan’s right to participate in the international community than in the past amidst Beijing’s growing assertiveness. Yet in the trade and investment policy field concrete action from CPTPP members or the EU is missing.
Comment: The hollowing out of the EU’s commercial power base
To many, the European Union ends its 2019-2024 legislature triumphant, with a European Commission having deftly navigated the Trump years, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and rocky relationships with China. But let’s not believe in fairy tales: the EU made dangerously deep cuts into the branch of the tree …
Comment: It’s the end of an era for EU trade policy
The ratification by the European Parliament of a trade agreement with New Zealand this week is the swan song of a long EU policy cycle made of globalising optimism and constructive economic diplomacy. Next year’s European Parliament elections might mark the turn to darker times.
Comment: For gender-balanced trade, elect more women into parliaments
The upcoming European Parliament elections and general elections across Europe are an opportunity for women to elect more female representatives in the pursuit of gender-balanced trade policies.
COMMENT – Unilateral import bans on Ukrainian goods: von der Leyen needs to take a stand
Shameful. And dangerous. And this is not about a few tonnes of wheat. This is dangerous for the European Union as a polity. This is dangerous for its standing as a global trading power.
Comment: As WTO panels slap down Trump-era tariffs, trumpian trade policy prevails
The summer 2023 capped off half a decade of a World Trade Organization wrangling with the rule-book’s national security exception. The process has landed the global trading order in a very uncomfortable place. It’s hard to see a way out unless the system accepts Washington’s zero-sum terms.
