China’s ambition to join the eleven-country Asia Pacific pact CPTPP seems genuine. It will now be up to other countries to decide the extent to which they are comfortable with its engagement in the world trade system.
Perspectives
Perspectives: Will Brussels ruin the Brussels Effect?
The EU sees opportunity in global regulatory leadership through the so-called Brussels Effect. But the attempt to deliberately control what has hitherto been largely market-driven is far from guaranteed to be a success.
Perspectives: New Zealanders give UK a CPTPP reality check
The United Kingdom’s hopes of agreeing a bilateral free trade agreement with New Zealand in August were not met. While a deal remains likely, the delay illustrates that the UK’s CPTPP accession will not be totally straightforward.
Perspectives: Shortages and supply chain issues come into autumn trade policy focus
Increasingly apparent strains in global and regional supply chains are playing into debates on the extent to which economies should be open or more self-sufficient. We should be wary of where this may lead.
Perspectives: UK government secrecy hasn’t delivered good trade deals
The negative impact of the United Kingdom government’s consistently secretive approach to trade policy since 2016 is becoming clearer.
Post-pandemic EU trade policy: an integrated agenda emerges
July is the traditional time to take stock of EU trade policy, August usually being a more reliable and lengthy pause than the end of the year. The European Commission’s initially rather low-key trade agenda in the first semester of 2021 has become far more interesting and fast-moving. This is …
Perspectives: Let’s carefully embrace ‘conditional’ trade
The European Union and United Kingdom are among those actively reconsidering the traditional links between trade policy and broader public policy objectives such as tackling climate change. While not without risks, conditioning access to one’s market on a trading partner addressing such global challenges seems the best way forward to …
Perspectives: Continued fragmentation of global e-commerce rules – cause for panic?
The growing importance of e-commerce has not been well reflected in trade policy instruments. While there are many initiatives ongoing, a global rule-book seems likely to remain elusive for some time. As e-commerce continues to grow this may not be such a big problem as it appears.
Perspectives: How the UK secured a place in the European standardisation system
The British national standards body BSI will remain a member of CEN and CENELEC, the leading European standardisation bodies, following a recent decision by their general assemblies. Agreement between European and British standards organisations is a novelty in recent UK-EU relations. There are lessons to learn from this step, which …
Perspectives: How to make transatlantic trade policy cooperation work
The recently announced EU-US Trade and Technology Council is the latest of many attempts to encourage closer cooperation across the Pond. Previous initiatives have not delivered: if this one is to be different we need to learn the lessons from previous experiences, not least the need to involve political leaders …
