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Update on the CPTPPA Agreement

World

Tuesday 12 April, 2022. The Institute for International Trade, in the School of Economics and Public Policy, was delighted to host Elisabeth Bowes, First Assistant Secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to update us on the process and issues pertaining to the CPTPP expansion, as well as the general progress of the agreement. 

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India-Australia Free Trade Deal Offers Australia First Mover Advantage in the World’s Fastest Growing Economy

Reforming industrial subsidies

Natasha Jha Bhaskar, General Manager of Newland Global Group, a Sydney-based Australian corporate advisory firm specialising in the Australia-India space. AI ECTA is India’s first deal with a developed economy in a decade and only a second trade deal in a span of eleven years. It is indicative of how Australia’s bilateral relationship with India has grown in leaps and bounds recently, particularly since the elevation of ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2020.

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Policy Roundtable: Economic Coercion and International Trade: the nature of the challenge and policy response options

Wednesday 30th March, 2022. Arbitrary instances of economic coercion by state actors have become frequent in recent years, undermining multilateral norms and rules. Liberal democracies are increasingly concerned over the systemic quality of such coercion, and are debating and designing possible policy responses on how to respond while maintaining a stable international trading system. Event report by Dr Naoise McDonagh, Institute for International Trade.

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Swedish Perspectives on the Green Transition

Swedish Perspectives

30 March 2022. Presented by Deputy Head of Mission Per Linnér. Hosted by Institute for International Trade, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence. Deputy Head of Mission Per Linnér provided a presentation titled ‘Swedish Perspectives on the EU’s Green Transition’. The presentation first provided an overview of the key forces driving Sweden’s political positioning and policy-making on green economy development, noting the powerful societal and grassroots origins of Swedish environmentalism that is energised by a strong sense of urgency to resolve climate change.

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Economic Coercion & International Trade. Policy Roundtable

Wednesday 30 March, 2022. Policy Roundtable, ‘Economic Coercion and International Trade: the nature of the challenge and policy response options’. Hosted by Institute for International Trade, sponsored by Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence. Arbitrary instances of economic coercion by state actors have become frequent in recent years, undermining multilateral norms and rules. In Brussels and Canberra there is growing concern and debate over the systemic quality of such coercion, as well as how to respond while maintaining a stable international trading system. Swedish Deputy Head of Mission Per Linnér will provide an EU perspective on this critical issue, followed by a brief overview of geopolitical trends driving coercion from IIT’s Dr Naoise McDonagh.

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Leveraging the Full Potential of Plurilateral Initiatives in the WTO

Crisis WTO Appellate

Tuesday 23rd November, 2021. The Institute for International Trade (IIT), the Trade and Investment Research Network (TIRN)  & TIRN steering committee organizations,held a webinar with leading experts for an interactive discussion on the "Plurilateral Initiatives in the World Trade Organization (WTO)". The webinar serves to launch the Policy Brief to a global audience in advance of the WTO’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference. A moderated presentation and ensuing interactive discussion involving a selected group of experts.

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Introduction to Digital Trade

Digital Economy

LAUNCH EVENT: "Introduction to Digital Trade" Online Board and Executive Learning Video. A suit of online learning modules were developed in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London, Orebro University, Council on Economic Policies and Australian Services Roundtable. The launch of these learning modules was hosted by ASR, with funding support of the TIISA Network and Erasmus+ Funding. 

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How China challenges the liberal trade order: Coercion, contestation and the socialist market economy.

China (city by night)

WORIKING PAPER 08
The original China ‘engagement strategy’ was grounded in the assumption that WTO membership would turn China into a liberal market economy. Today the engagement strategy is acknowledged as having failed by China’s largest trading partners, who increasingly view Beijing as a systemic rival. Yet, much international economics still views the engagement strategy as a viable approach for driving liberal reforms within China, indicating a growing gap between political thinking and international economics. This paper addresses that gap, arguing there are theoretical and empirical grounds that support viewing China as a rival economic system that will increasingly challenge core aspects of the existing liberal trade order.

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All told, Australian sanctions will have almost zero consequences for Russia

Moscow

Naoise McDonagh, Lecturer in Political Economy at the Institute for International Trade
Will Australia’s sanctions hurt Russia? This article outlines why #Australian sanctions are symbolic only, by discussing the conditions under which sanctions can be effective and explaining why such conditions do not exist in the Australia-Russia economic relationship. Other countries, such as the US, UK and EU, who do have conditions for effective sanctioning power against Russia, must make complex calculations to maximise deterrent power while minimizing as far as possible costs for them.

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The EU Digital Market Regulations: Rule-Maker or Deal-Breaker?

Digital Transformation

Hildegunn  Kyvik Nordås,  Magnus Lodefalk and  Joakim Wernberg
Digital  transformation of  the  economy  and society gives  rise to a need for updated regulations and rules of the game for the digitised market. Within the EU, this need is  reflected in a number of legislative initiatives, most  recently the Digital  Markets  Act (DMA), the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Artificial Intelligence Act. This  work affects not only the European  market  but  also international  trade relations  that  extend  beyond the EU's borders. The EU is also part of the Joint Initiative (JI) on E-Commerce which was launched at the 11th WTO Ministerial in 2017 and aims at setting the global rules for digital markets.

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