News: World Trade Organisation
United States Trade Policy Under a Biden Presidency: Challenges and Opportunities
Visiting Fellow Milton Churche. Milton Churche left the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2018 after working on trade policy since 1987.
The Trump administration has called into question the value of trade agreements, including of the World Trade Organization (WTO), abused the concept of national security to justify openly trade protectionist actions, invoked “trade wars” as legitimate policy tools to advance national objectives, and moved in the direction of managed trade. Would a Biden presidency bring a decisive change in direction on US trade policy?
[Read more about United States Trade Policy Under a Biden Presidency: Challenges and Opportunities ]
Managing the risks of rising government support: a case for policy transparency
Ken Ash is an Independent Consultant, IIT Visiting Fellow, and former OECD Director of Trade and Agriculture.
Governments generally support the smooth functioning of their domestic economies, through maintaining systems of good governance and the rule of law and ensuring a coherent macroeconomic and structural policy environment. Extraordinary support is sometimes also warranted, as is the case today to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19. Few would dispute that these are essential roles for governments.
[Read more about Managing the risks of rising government support: a case for policy transparency]
Geneva Trade Week: Join the discussion on Digital Trade
Geneva Trade Week 2020 is a digital conference organized by the Geneva Trade Platform and running from Friday the 25th of September through to Friday the 2nd of October.
Taking place in the week of the now cancelled WTO Public Forum, Geneva Trade Week brings together policymakers, academics, experts, the private sector and passionate activists to discuss trade, its impact, and its connection to the most pressing issues of our time.
[Read more about Geneva Trade Week: Join the discussion on Digital Trade ]
Industrial Subsidies, State-Owned Enterprises and WTO Reform: Prospects for Cooperation?
Dr Naoise McDonagh, Lecturer in Political Economy, Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide and Professor Peter Draper, Executive Director, Institute for International Trade, The University of Adelaide.
The role of the state and market-distorting state intervention in the global economy have come increasingly to the fore in recent times, in large part as reaction to China’s rise to becoming the second largest world economy, and a direct competitor with developed economies across many sectors.
Joining the WTO
Richard Pomfret presented a paper on Uzbekistan’s WTO accession in the series Virtual Seminars on Applied Economics and Policy Analysis in Central Asia. The paper tracks what will be the longest ever WTO accession negotiations and emphasizes the changing nature of membership commitments since the WTO was established in 1995.
Developments in the WTO Appellate Body
IIT hosted Professor James Bacchus, who currently serves as a Distinguished University Professor of Global Affairs and the Director of the Centre for Global Economic and Environmental Opportunity at the University of Central Florida. Prof Bacchus presented "Developments in the WTO Appellate Body"
How will changes in U.S. CVD law impact developing countries?
By Jaiwei Fu, IIT Visiting Researcher
On February 10, 2020, the U.S. Trade Representative published an updated version of the "List of Developing and Least Developed Countries under U.S. Countervailing Duty Law" (CVD) in the Federal Register. Twenty countries, including India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Thailand, had their status as developing countries removed.
[Read more about How will changes in U.S. CVD law impact developing countries?]
COVID-19 and Africa
By Ziyaad Ebrahim, IIT PhD Candidate and Independent Trade and Development Consultant.
Africa is poised to be the next epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, according a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). It suggests that in the best-case scenario, the virus would result in 300,000 deaths. At this stage, the mortality rate associated with the virus in the most affected regions is higher amongst the elderly population, whereas 60% of Africa’s population is below the age of 25.
Emerging from Lockdown: Threats to the international trade system
Richard Pomfret - Professor of Economics & Jean Monnet Chair Economics of European Integration, The University of Adelaide
As COVID-19 curves flatten globally and policymakers’ attention turns to resuming economic activity safely, attention is inevitably focused on domestic matters. What is the trade-off between the economic costs of caution that delays economic revival and the health costs of over-hasty removal of measures that are holding back the spread of the virus?
[Read more about Emerging from Lockdown: Threats to the international trade system]
Industrial Subsidies, market competition, global trade and investment: Towards a research agenda
Subsidization by states of their domestic industries to gain competitive advantage abroad is a perennial topic in international trade discussions. As the world moves into a multipolar environment and China rises in economic prominence, the rules governing subsidies, particularly to the industrial sector, are in the spotlight.
This work is licensed under Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
IIT is a global leader in researching, analysing and commenting on International Trade.
Stay informed about our up-and-coming seminars, events, publications, awards, new projects and collaborations, and other exciting news.