No images? Click here
THE INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE
A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
While the US continues to mull over its trade policy stances, Australia’s interest in, and engagement with, the World Trade Organization continues to manifest. Significantly, the Cairns Group of agriculture exporters, which played such a significant role in delivering the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture during the Uruguay Round, and the Africa Group of Ambassadors recently released a joint statement urging reform of trade-distorting agriculture subsidies. While there is a large gap between the two groups’ views on how this should be achieved, Africa Group support for achieving progress on multilateral disciplines is essential. Kudos to Australia’s trade negotiators for achieving this result.
A major reason why progress on multilateral reforms has stalled is that many developing country WTO members, particularly African countries, feel the system of rules and agreements is unjust. Hence, they argue for ‘special and differential treatment’ (SDT). The challenge is that while this can be accorded to least developed and other poor or vulnerable economies without causing major ructions, when large developing countries claim this status the free-rider problem rears its head. This is why our Institute is conducting a global opinion survey on SDT, aiming to get opinions beyond the ‘Geneva bubble’ – caught up as it is in a mercantilist mindset. The link is below. Given the complexity of the topic the survey does take a little while, but already we have had hundreds of completions – testament to the importance of this issue. Have your say – click the link below.
Our first feature piece by former Chinese trade diplomat Xiankun Lou reflects on the Trump Administration’s approach to the SDT issue from the standpoint of developing countries, and provides some context to aid your thinking when you answer the survey.
The next set of articles addresses the major institutional innovation that has led to progress on a number of negotiating fronts in Geneva, notwithstanding the multilateral blockage: plurilaterals. Or, as former WTO Deputy Director General Andy Stoler correctly argues, this is a rediscovery of an old ‘business as usual’ approach. Still, as he notes, some countries are particularly unhappy with it. Then WTO Counsellor Markus Jelitto sets out how progress is being made in one plurilateral negotiation, being services domestic regulation. Given the growing importance of services in international trade this is a critical negotiation, which may reach a successful conclusion at the twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference in November this year.
Finally, a salute to our Visiting Fellow Tim Yeend, who recently concluded his tenure as Chief of Staff to the WTO’s Director General. Tim served former WTO DG Ambassador Roberto Azevedo with distinction and stayed on to assist the new DG, Ngozi Nkonjo-Iweala. As Ngozi noted in her letter announcing her new team, Tim’s contribution to the WTO system has been immense. We look forward to welcoming him back to Australia – after he concludes a well-deserved break.
Professor Peter Draper
POLICY AND ENGAGEMENT
OPINION SURVEY ON SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN THE WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION
The Institute for International Trade is currently undertaking a project to investigate the future of Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) in the World Trade Organization (WTO). As part of this project, we are seeking an understanding of current thinking in key national capitals on the role of SDT in the WTO, through a global opinion survey.
- Should all developing countries be entitled to claim developing country status at the WTO?
- Which forms of Special and Differential Treatment are most effective?
- Are industrial subsidies good for business?
Please help us to continue the conversation on the future of SDT in the WTO by taking 10-20 minutes before 5pm on Friday, 11 June 2021 (ACST) to complete our global opinion survey.
The polarized positions in the WTO, particularly between the US and China, on developing country status and ‘special and differential treatment’ (SDT), makes it not only difficult to find a solution on this issue, but also impossible to foresee solutions on other issues demanding WTO reform.
In this Policy Brief Professor Xiankun LU, a former senior trade diplomat of China to the WTO and now Managing Director of the consulting firm LEDECO Geneva, reflects on the approach of the US Trump administration to deprive certain members of their developing country status under certain criteria.
JOINT STATEMENT INITIATIVES AND PROGRESS IN THE WTO SYSTEM
“Joint Statement Initiatives” (JSIs) are today seen by many governments as crucial to making trade progress, given some WTO Members opposition to further liberalization and rulemaking on a multilateral basis. Two governments that have actively worked to block progress, India and South Africa, are currently challenging the legality of JSIs.
Andrew Stoler, former WTO Deputy Director-General; former Office of the United States Trade Representative and senior trade negotiator
SERVICES DOMESTIC REGULATION: DOING THE OBVIOUS
Services Trade has been growing continuously over the past three decades and was worth USD 13.3 trillion in 2017. Services value added accounts for almost half of all world trade (goods and services combined). Despite these impressive figures, the 2019 WTO World Trade Report finds that costs of trading services are about twice as high as trade cost for goods. Through the development of disciplines on services domestic regulation, a group of 63 WTO members is addressing these cost factors.
By Markus Jelitto, Counsellor at the Services Trade Division, WTO Secretariat, Geneva
STUDY WITH US IN 2021
Register now and help your business thrive in today's complex global trading environment!
Today’s leaders operate in an increasingly complex and unpredictable environment in which change occurs at an unprecedented speed and magnitude. The future is uncertain, and problems often transcend the boundaries of single organisations or professions. Leaders have always stood ready to help bridge the divide between an untenable present and an uncertain future, and today the need for leaders with the skills and confidence to chart a path for their organisations into a future that is increasingly information-rich but certainty-poor is stronger than ever before.
This world-class collaboration between IIT, GTPA and The University of Sussex 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.
Looking for practical strategies to help mitigate the impact of BREXIT on your global business?
With the UK leaving the EU and focusing further afield, to the Pacific and Australasia, there are many trading opportunities for business, but also new challenges: changing trade formalities and regulatory controls, shifts in legal frameworks, as well as revised trade and competition standards.
'Global Business Strategy in a Post-Brexit World' is a world-class collaboration between the Institute for International Trade (IIT) and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) School of Law. This short course has been designed to provide participants with a deeper understanding of the impact of these shifts in global trade patterns on their business and markets, and to provide tools which will enable participants to create strategies to succeed in a reshaped marketplace.
Copyright © 2020 The University of Adelaide.
CRICOS Provider Number 00123M
You are receiving this email because you are a current staff, student or alumni of The University of Adelaide, or you have signed up to receive information from us.
