Policy & Engagement
In recent years we have seen unprecedented debate concerning the legitimacy of trade agreements, widespread concern about the potential effects of globalisation and a dangerous resurgence of protectionism which has the potential to profoundly impact economic development and trade arrangements throughout the world.
Today, more than ever, universities have a critical role to play in supporting the pursuit of effective, transparent and responsible trade policy which is both responsive to economic challenges and enables countries to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the global economy.
The Institute for International Trade works closely with our partners to develop and maintain a deep dialogue with government, business, civil society and the wider public.
Stories and opinions
Adaptive Trade Leadership in a Globalised World Program
Announcing an exciting new collaboration with the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA) to equip international business leaders with the technical trade knowledge and advanced complex and adaptive thinking capacities needed to succeed in today's global business environment.
Read more about Adaptive Trade Leadership in a Globalised World Program
A Phase One Deal, but for what purpose?
Naoise McDonagh - Lecturer, Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide
What does the Phase One trade deal between the U.S. and China indicate for the wider trade conflict between the two countries? To answer that question requires analysis of the deal’s specifics in the broader context of the trade conflict and its underlying causes.
Vietnam: economic outlook and role as ASEAN chair in 2020
Milton Churche and Michael Mugliston, visiting fellows at the Institute for International Trade at the University of Adelaide in South Australia
Vietnam serves as ASEAN Chair in 2020, granting authority to shape the group’s priorities for the year ahead. Building on Vietnam’s recent successes in trade negotiations the country can use its Chair to enhance ASEAN’s role supporting a rules-based international trading order.
Industrial subsidies
Weinian Hu - Research Fellow at Centre for European Policy Studies, Belgium.
Industrial subsidisation is an area identified for WTO rule-strengthening by the European Union (EU) and the Trilateral Trade Ministerial Cooperation (hereafter Trilateral Cooperation). The aim is to curb certain trade practices spearheaded by China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which allegedly engender over-capacity, distort markets and undermine the effectiveness of the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM). The obligations of transparency and notification prescribed by the ASCM require strengthening, too.
Failure of strategic trade diplomacy
Naoise McDonagh - Lecturer, Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide
In June 2019 a free trade agreement (FTA) two decades in the making was struck between the EU and the South American customs union Mercosur (currently comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay).
Study tour - strategy of Australia & EU Integration III
A group of University of Adelaide students are currently on a two-week study tour as part of their course on Australia-EU relations, being led by Prof Richard Pomfret.
Read more about Study tour - strategy of Australia & EU Integration III24 Feb
Trade and Investment in Services: An urgent Agenda
17 February 2020 - IIT staff and Ph.D. Students attended the seminar "Trade and Investment in Services: An urgent Agenda” presented by Hein Roelfsema, IIT's visiting Associate Professor for International Economics. 24 Feb 21 February 2020, the Centre of Excellence and the Trade and Investment in Services Associates (TIISA) network co-hosted with the Australian Institute for International Affairs a Policy Round Table on The Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement: Boosting Australian Innovation and Services Exports. 26 Nov
China’s Perspectives on WTO Reform
Professor Xiankun LU - China Institute for WTO Studies, University of International Business and Economics 21 Nov On 19 November Richard Pomfret participated in the event “Looking for the Origins” at the Italian Ambassador’s Residence in Canberra. In conjunction with the geographical indications topic in the currently under negotiation Australia-EU trade agreement, the event featured participants from the scientific, police enforcement and diplomatic communities. 15 Nov
Fellow of the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE)
Richard Pomfret has been appointed an external Fellow of the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE) in Warsaw for 2019-21. 31 Oct Anabel Gonzalez - Independent consultant on Trade and Investment.
The Round Table centred on presentations by Jan Hutton, Deputy Chief Australian Negotiator in the FTA negotiations, and TIISA fellow Hein Roelfsema from the University of Utrecht (Netherlands) and a contribution by Cornelis Keijzer from the EU negotiating team. The lively Q&A were led by Jane Drake-Brockman (TIISA Coordinator) and Richard Pomfret (Centre of Excellence Director).
The event, held at the Science Exchange in Adelaide, attracted an audience of around seventy people.
China has tabled two formal documents on World Trade Organization (WTO) reform, these being the Position Paper on WTO Reform of November 2018 and the Proposal of China on WTO Reform of May 2019. Four aspects are highlighted in this article.
CASE has been ranked the number one think tank in Central and Eastern Europe, according to the Global Think Tank Report of the University of Pennsylvania (April 2019, p. 94).
With trade conflicts, new technologies and geopolitical competition reshaping the global economy, the trade and investment policy landscape is rapidly changing. While different scenarios are playing out, managed trade is gaining traction, rules are increasingly fragmented in competing spheres of influence and global trade governance is weakening. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is under strain and the business environment is more uncertain, volatile and increasingly power-driven than before.