News and analysis on trade policy in Europe
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
‘It is Time for Action’ was the WTO Public Forum’s motto this year as negotiators in Geneva start working on reforming the institution. But current actions of major players undermine the global trade rules. Perhaps we need less ‘action’, but more big picture thinking and more long-term system fixes.
Proposals to raise tariffs all-round by presidential candidate Donald Trump, the release of a book by his former trade representative Robert Lighthizer, and a speech of the current holder of that position at the G20 Trade Ministers meeting show the extent of trade and WTO-scepticism in the United States. The …
The EU’s new economic security strategy mentions 18 unilateral legislative tools and toolkits it can deploy to meet its essential interests. Many among those tools are new. Working out how they are best used will be a major task for the next Commission.
One of the fundamentals of the original GATT treaty of 1947 is equal treatment of imported products that are ‘like’ domestic products, regardless of how they are processed and produced. Recent developments in both EU and US law suggest the consensus around this principle has ended. It is time to …
A slew of new EU environmental and digital regulations intend to make a global impact. It’s time to start assessing if they will in fact have their desired effect.
G7 leaders agreed a wide-ranging statement on economic resilience and economic security at their recent summit in Japan. The breadth of issues put under this heading contents is a problem and risks simply becoming a laundry list of concerns about China. The European Commission, preparing its own communication on the …
There is talk of a new ‘Washington consensus’ on trade as spelled out in a recent speech by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. This Washington view partly overlaps with the EU’s new approach to trade policy. But their new position of domestic industry above anything else will not deliver …
Brussels is taking a greater interest in what a change of government in the United Kingdom next year might mean for cross-Channel relations. Comfortably ahead in opinion polls, the Labour Party hasn’t focused much on trade – but greater focus on Europe is likely.
Now that the UK is set to join the 11 country Asia Pacific trade pact CPTPP, some commentators have suggested the EU should follow. But there are better alternatives for EU CPTPP trade engagement, starting with deepening dialogue on new trade policy issues.
Amidst all the wrangling about free trade vs the environment in the European Union, we risk ending with more protectionism and less ambitious environmental policies.
