Harald Sander, Cologne University of Applied Sciences (CUAS)
Shortly after the G20 summit in Brisbane, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced initiatives to increase trade and investment relations between Germany and…
A trade spat between India and the US was the most serious threat to the WTO in years.
Reuters
Despite sluggishness in the world economy, global trade reached an astonishing US$23 trillion last year. The World Trade Organization has been the primary guarantor of this extraordinary growth in global…
In harmony. The link between the EU and UK jobs.
Kalyan Neelamraju
Whichever way you look at it, the UK is going through a stormy period in its relationship with the European Union. David Cameron has promised to renegotiate the UK’s relations with the EU and to hold a…
The heart of the matter. The container port at Long Beach.
sunslate
Efforts to build a more effective trading regime between Europe and the USA can reasonably be called positive, both for growth and the ease of doing business. Currently, however, negotiations include proposals…
The Abbott governments rush to sign bilateral trade deals with countries including Japan has meant quality has been sacrificed.
Alan Porritt/AAP
Ten years on from the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, Australia is entering another round of negotiations towards the new and controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership. In this Free Trade Scorecard series…
Australia’s approach to trade policy is more thoughtful and calculating than it is given credit for by sections of the media, academia and the public who object to current negotiations.
AAP/Newzulu/Jeff Tan
Ten years on from the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, Australia is entering another round of negotiations towards the new and controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership. This is the first article in the…
The Australian government hopes to finalise the Free Trade Agreement with China by the end of the year.
PARKER SONG / POOL/ AAP
This week treasurer Joe Hockey, and trade minister Andrew Robb have been in China for the inaugural Australia-China Strategic Economic Dialogue. These talks are one part of the “Strategic Partnership…
Talking of turkey, Samoa got a bum deal.
AcrylicArtist
Trade agreements are being used to “handcuff governments” over health policy, Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organisation said at its assembly. This was “disturbing” she went on, adding…
Debt; dollar; deficit - the mantra for this year, amid a turbulent political period.
AAP
Debt. Dollar. Deficits. Three little words so close to the hearts of our contributors in a year dominated by a critical federal election, a waning mining boom and continuing international turbulence. The…
The WTO negotiations have been plagued with irreconcilable differences from the start.
Made Nagi/AAP
The WTO Multilateral Trade Negotiations in Bali almost failed. By negotiating for one day beyond the scheduled conference time, 159 exhausted nations finally concluded an agreement. What’s at stake are…
South Korea is Australia’s fourth largest trading partner, with the relationship likely to grow under a new free trade agreement.
flickr/Emmanuel Dyan
The trade deal signed yesterday between Australia and South Korea is being promoted as a win by the government for the benefits if will bring to Australian industries including agriculture, automotive…
Politicians from around the world are gathering in Bali for the ninth World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting. The atmosphere is likely to be a far cry from that of the big meetings in the late…
Concern over the transparency of TPP negotiations grew after it was revealed negotiating documents could not be released until four years after the completion of the negotiations.
Azhar Rahim/AAP
In the history of trade agreement negotiations, most have been undertaken in secret, justified on the grounds that the governments’ negotiating positions would be weakened if they became public. But this…
Boarded up: how companies are trumping our health.
Eschipul
If I asked you to name some of the current threats to your health, “international trade law” probably wouldn’t be on the tip of your tongue. Yet trade agreements, and the way we negotiate them, can affect…
What is the best trade option for Australia’s future?
AAP/Alex Ibanez
One of the first acts of Tony Abbott’s government was to declare it intended to “embrace free trade” in its first term in office. Calling the trade minister Australia’s “ambassador for jobs”, the Coalition…
By allowing ISDS clauses in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Australia could be opening the door to more legal challenges from corporations.
mattyp_/Flickr
The leaking of a key Trans-Pacific Partnership document by Wikileaks this week suggests Australia may side with the US on some key issues including the insertion of an Investor-State Dispute Settlement…
A Trans Pacific Partnership meeting hosted by US President Barack Obama with the Sultan of Brunei and prime ministers from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia , Singapore and Vietnam, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on November 20, 2012.
AAP Image/Auspic, David Foote
International trade agreements bring new transnational food companies into countries, along with new food advertising and promotion. This has often led to an increase in unhealthy foods entering the domestic…
The demand for shark fins has pushed threatened shark species from 15 in 1996 to 180 in 2010.
Choo Yut Shing
Each year around 100 million sharks are killed for their fins. The sharks are often pulled from the water, their fins are sliced off and they are thrown back in to drown. The industry is built on the high…
Trade Minister Craig Emerson is committed to pursuing a free trade agenda at the Doha Development Round. But will other countries follow suit?
AAP
Australian Trade Minister Craig Emerson’s opinion piece in The Weekend Australian, titled “Doha is no dodo as it takes off on new flight path”, brings new enthusiasm and life to the Doha Development Agenda…