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THE INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE
A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Our final newsletter of year marks undoubtedly one of the historic years of modern human history. A global pandemic upended all plans for 2020, shook the world of trade to its core, and imbued the word ‘agility’ with new meaning. As a massive vaccine rollout gets under way in a number of countries we can now look towards 2021 with growing optimism. In this newsletter two new op-eds assess the signing of PACER-Plus and Germany’s chance to reset relations with the U.S. and its incoming Biden administration respectively. PACER-Plus offers Australia new opportunities in its bid to diversify its trade composition, and consolidate its centrality to neighbouring Pacific islands. While getting transatlantic relations back on track is crucial for the multilateral system.
Following that, we provide a selection of our most highly read op-eds and policy briefs, two of each. The first of our two op-eds provides a discussion of how the pandemic has accelerated trends that will impact the future of work, global trade and technology. The second was a piece on Indian trade policy which highlighted the Modi government’s approach of ‘selective engagement’.
For our policy briefs one highly read piece from earlier in the year provides valuable analysis of pandemic-generated tensions in the multilateral trading system. These are then put in much-needed broader historical context, with the brief’s author Peter Draper then assessing what role the G20 can play in stabilizing relations. Our final policy brief concerns an issue foremost on the mind of many world leaders, namely what will the U.S. trade policy look like under a Biden administration. The briefing provides a careful analysis of the signs thus far for assessing the Biden agenda.
As this is the final newsletter for 2020, we would like to thank the many people who have supported IIT’s success this year. First, we thank our advisory board members for providing us the great resource of their experience and advice that has helped guide our endeavours. We thank the IIT staff for their energy and efforts in adapting to a fast-changing environment and ensuring IIT delivered on its commitments. We thank our students for also adapting quickly and positively to the new digitized and Zoomified world of learning. Lastly, we thank you, the reader, for engaging and supporting IIT’s work throughout the year.
Professor Peter Draper
POLICY AND ENGAGEMENT
A ground-breaking trade agreement set to enter into force on December 13th (soon to be announced by Trade Minister Birmingham) could open the door for a regional travel corridor between Australia, New Zealand and most Pacific Island countries, while reinforcing the importance of a rules-based trade order in the region.
By Jim Redden; Director, Economic Development Services Ltd. Visiting Fellow, Institute for International Trade, Adelaide University and Peter Draper
Executive Director, Institute for International Trade, Adelaide University.
OUR MOST READ PIECES FOR 2020
INDIA'S TRADE POLICY: EMBRACING NATIONAL INTERESTS & SELECTIVE ENGAGEMENT
Six months have passed since India decided to stay out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). With the rest of the RCEP members going ahead with the agreement and finalizing its text, India is unlikely to be a part of RCEP in the foreseeable future. This is notwithstanding the hint dropped by India’s external affairs minister Dr. S Jaishankar earlier in the year on India ‘rethinking’ the decision.
By Amitendu Palit, Senior Economic and Trade Policy Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies in the National University of Singapore.
COVID-19: OFFERING US A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE OF WORK, THE GLOBAL ECONOMY & TECHNOLOGY
COVID-19 has already exacted a horrific death toll in dozens of countries and is only going to get worse in the coming weeks and months. The same is true of the economic fallout it has caused. Soon political leaders will have to make extremely difficult choices as the trade-offs between saving lives and saving economies become even more stark.
By Simon Lacey - Senior Lecturer in International Trade, Institute for International Trade
GLOBAL TRADE COOPERATION AFTER COVID-19: CAN THE G20 CONTAIN DISINTEGRATION?
If ever the G20, the self-styled apex forum for international economic cooperation, needed to step up to the plate it is now. However, while it did so for the 2009 London Summit - in the eye of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) - it is highly unlikely to this time. It is also not clear what the definition of success is, unlike the GFC when the core objective was to save Western financial systems from collapse. Each G20 country is correctly focused on managing its own health trajectory, with little policy bandwidth left to devote to international economic cooperation.
By Professor Peter Draper - Institute for International Trade
US TRADE POLICY UNDER A BIDEN PRESIDENCY: CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
The decision made by millions of American voters in recent week's will reverberate globally, and hold particular ramifications for global trade. In that context Institute for International Trade (IIT) Visiting Fellow and former Australian trade negotiator, Milton Churche, provides a policy brief that takes a deep dive into Biden’s trade policy, and in particular his Supply Chain Plan. The brief suggests that this Plan offers a window into the trade mindset of a Biden administration, and identifies a number of potential problems therein. In response to those issues, the brief offers ideas for how America’s international partners can constructively respond to a Biden administration’s approach to trade policy.
By Milton Churche, Visiting Fellow, Institute for International Trade
OUR PROGRAMS FOR 2021
Adaptive Trade Leadership in a Globalised World: Accepting applications for virtual delivery in 2021!
This world-class collaboration between the Institute for International Trade, Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA) and The University of Sussex (UoS) is designed to equip mid-senior business leaders with a strong foundation in the dynamics of complexity and leadership, as well as the trade knowledge and key skills required to transform their leadership effectiveness, problem solving skills, and ability to respond strategically to trade issues.
Register now and secure your place in this cutting edge virtual program in 2021!
Start Your Career in International Trade in 2021!
Study with leading researchers and experienced trade practitioners, and graduate with a post-graduate degree in international trade and development from one of the world's leading universities.
Our post graduate programs in international trade and development equip graduates for leading roles in areas related to economic growth and development.
We can help you build the knowledge, networks and capabilities to make a real difference for the communities in which you work!
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