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
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 III
China’s Perspectives on WTO Reform
Professor Xiankun LU - China Institute for WTO Studies, University of International Business and Economics
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.
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. 23 Oct
World In a Box - 50 years of containerization in Australia
On 22 October IIT staff and students participated in the launch of World in a Box by Minister for Trade Tourism and Investment, Senator The Hon Simon Birmingham at the University of Adelaide. 23 Oct
Launch - World in a Box -Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
On 22 October IIT staff and students and Centre of Excellence Director Richard Pomfret participated in the launch of World in a Box by by Minister for Trade Tourism and Investment, Senator The Hon Simon Birmingham at the University of Adelaide. The short film commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first international container ship in Australian ports. The Minister was welcomed by Executive Dean of the Faculty of Professions, Professor John Williams. The audience contained DFAT officials and representatives from Australian ports and exporters as well as from Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping line. 30 Sep
Trade and Investment in Services Associates (TIISA) Network
The Trade and Investment in Services Associates (TIISA) network held its first annual conference at the World Trade Institute at the University of Bern in Switzerland on 20-21 September. Researchers from six of the partner institutions presented papers around the theme Trade in Services by Mode of Supply. The conference also included papers from staff of the WTO, the OECD and the US Federal Reserve highlighting major new advances in data on services trade as well as services research from those institutions.
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.