News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Friday, April 25, 2025
Costa Rica, Iceland, New Zealand and Switzerland concluded an agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability that breaks new ground in the area of services and which bans fossil fuel subsidies. This is a first-in-kind legally binding international trade agreement with a primary focus on pursuing environmental policy objectives. The …
The European Commission recently released minutes of bilateral meetings held under the EU Vietnam free trade agreement and the EU Singapore free trade agreements last July. The delayed publication is due to the fact that minutes needed to be agreed by both parties. Here is what these minutes reveal.
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.
Economic security in the Indo-Pacific region, the WTO’s plurilaterals and border carbon adjustment mechanisms (again!) have been in the spotlight this week among international think tanks.
It’s that time of the year when the OECD, the ‘rich-world think tank’ and occasional international treaty negotiation forum hosts its ministers in Paris. Overarching themes this year: supply chain resilience, sustainability, trade multilateralism Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.
G7 leaders issued an exceptionally lengthy joint statement at a summit hosted by Japan in the city of Hiroshima that covers a range of topics from the war in Ukraine, to Taiwan, healthcare, food security and climate mitigation – to name some of the most important ones. One of the …
One of the most interesting publications of trade policy think tanks and research institutions this week is by the Hinrich Foundation and delves into the global solar panel supply chain. The OECD has updated its trade facilitation database and the International Institute for Sustainable Development has released a detailed explainer …
The four countries of the European Free Trade Area are entering the new Singapore-led digital trade agreement bandwagon.
Is this the European Union’s approach to ‘digital partnerships’ in the Indo-Pacific just fluff? At the very least one can say it is much too timid.
The United States will soon announce plans for an Indo-Pacific economic framework as part of its new strategy for the region. Europeans have also developed their own Indo-Pacific strategies. There is scope for transatlantic cooperation on trade and economic issues of common interest. Asia Society’s Wendy Cutler shares some thoughts …
