15 Jul 2024
What next for UK trade relations with the EU?
The ushering in of new blood in Westminster promises less ideology on trade, but no fewer red lines.
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30 May 2024
Fibs, squibs, and trading digs
Is it any wonder the public is often bemused about the merits of trade policy? -
18 Jan 2024
Economic diplomacy: To market, to market, with China
New Cabinet papers reveal the origins of trade pragmatism and the Coalition’s embrace of communism with market characteristics. -
7 Dec 2023
Economic diplomacy: Pulling the right global value chain
Australia is now a big exporter of “bottleneck products” in a deglobalising world, just as it tries to rebuild manufacturing. -
9 Nov 2023
Economic diplomacy: Labor’s green security state rises
From Chinese wind turbines to temporary foreign workers, Australia faces difficult intersections between domestic and foreign policy. -
26 Jul 2023
A return to old-school mercantilism?
Suspicion and economic competition are forcing states back in time, with protectionism and self-sufficiency the new norm. -
15 May 2023
Foreign policy China-style: beyond protocol and alcohol
Southeast Asian nations are realising that forming balancing coalitions will be their best bet in dealing with Beijing. -
2 Mar 2023
Economic diplomacy: Arming up for war and trade
Sovereign capability is the government’s answer to an old political trade-off in the face of geoeconomic fragmentation. -
20 Feb 2023
Indonesia’s uncertain climb up the nickel value chain
Demand for EVs is driving domestic and foreign direct investment in the country’s minerals sector. But caution is needed. -
23 Jan 2023
How will China’s punitive trade restrictions against Australia end?
Good vibes could turn into a solution – but if China demands a quid pro quo, reaching agreement will be complex. -
15 Dec 2022
Economic diplomacy: From pollie crises to polycrisis
There are political bunfights, strategic challenges and wicked problems, but let’s not “overcrisify” the world. -
23 Mar 2022
Trade policy agenda facing new drivers
More than ever, Australia’s national security and economic resilience goals need integrating with smart trade policy. -
2 Dec 2021
Economic diplomacy: Free trade vs economic resilience
From Chinese iPhones to university classrooms, trade in services is being redefined. -
1 Nov 2021
Markets and resilience in the face of economic coercion
Calls for a “China plus” strategy rightfully draws business attention to the need to manage rising geoeconomic risks. -
1 Oct 2021
WTO dispute settlement: why Australia bothers
Australia had been an infrequent user of this tool. But the system is now more relevant than ever. -
15 Jul 2021
Economic diplomacy: Little Australia spends slowly in the Pacific
Can a step-up speed up? And what of the economic and cultural benefits of migration in Covid times? -
15 Jul 2021
EU the new kingpin in global trade order
The world moves on, while a crippled Appellate Body takes the US with it. -
17 Jun 2021
New push for WTO trade reform
Protectionism must be relegated to the rear view mirror – fixes in agriculture negotiations might open the road ahead. -
19 May 2021
Patent waiver for vaccines is a plus, but no panacea
Lifting IP rights won’t kill innovation. It also won’t automatically get more vaccine doses where they’re needed. -
25 Mar 2021
Economic diplomacy: Deploying soft power and the future of trade
Not-so-negative globalism, the not-so-predictable future of supply chains, and maybe not much change on China. -
4 Mar 2021
Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO, and what’s next?
It was a high hurdle to take charge, but Nigeria’s former finance minister has only just begun her run. -
3 Dec 2020
As a national champion departs the scene, a China food fight looms
Picking winners? In this case, one sort of export interest seems to have suffered due to support for another. -
19 Nov 2020
Economic diplomacy: Navigating Asia’s trade tangle and a NSW “step-up”
Plus, revisiting assumptions that China would be reluctant to interfere with South China Sea trade routes. -
5 Nov 2020
Economic diplomacy: A headless WTO, selling the Asian farm
The US blocks a consensus candidate at WTO, Australian businesses offloading in Asia and the Ant float banned. -
7 Oct 2020
Global trade policy at a lull, but for how long?
With economies and trade meetings cut down by Covid‑19, and political uncertainty in the air, we’re at a standstill. -
28 Jul 2020
Managing Chinese economic risks means more than diversification
How does Australia confront the possibility of Beijing’s economic coercion? -
24 Jul 2020
The world can still prosper from free trade
Trade negotiators must think that theirs is an unhappy lot. But they keep trying – as they should. -
4 Jun 2020
Economic diplomacy: Asian investment, super tension & the WTO hot seat
World trade could be set to fall as much as 30% this year. Who is going to be in charge of fixing the problem? -
13 May 2020
In beef over barley, Chinese economic coercion cuts against the grain
Beijing has become adept at punishing countries with legally “dressed up” informal economic sanctions. -
28 Apr 2020
New Zealand: Running the marathon
Having started well, there’s a lot to happen yet. And so far this race is not a team event, internationally. -
10 Dec 2019
Murder on the Multilateral Express
With the Appellate Body of the Word Trade Organisation about to seize, members must decide how to get back on the rails. -
5 Dec 2019
Economic diplomacy: Free trade disputes, WTO appeals, DFAT on China
A shortage of judges on the WTO trade court is bringing appeals to a halt, just as trade disputes are on the rise. -
10 Oct 2019
Economic diplomacy: Auditing globalism, trade woes, ASEAN’s future
Measuring and managing the world economy – and Australia’s place – sees a pushback to a “negative globalism” mantra. -
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20 Oct 2014
The WTO is in big trouble
The World Trade Organisation director Roberto Azevedo says the institution has descended into 'paralysis'. -