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Top Obama Trade Official Stresses Need for Openness, Doha Deal
The Obama administration will reject protectionism and pursue negotiated trade liberalisation including an agreement in the stalled Doha Round of WTO talks, the new US trade representative announced last week. In his first detailed policy speech since taking office in March, Ron Kirk stressed that open trade would be essential to domestic economic recovery. The US…
- In Brief
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String of Pork Bans Follow Swine Flu Outbreak
Six countries have moved to implement bans on pork products from Mexico and parts of the US as global swine flu infections continue to rise. But critics in the two countries argue that the bans are unfounded, and health officials agree the illness cannot be contracted by eating pork. Since it was first detected in Mexico…
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World Bank Chief Scolds G20 Leaders for Backsliding on Protectionism
World Bank President Robert Zoellick issued a stern warning to world leaders last week, urging them to follow through on their commitments to keep their borders open to international trade. “We need to be ever-vigilant that whether it is financing, instruments, or policy prescriptions, we deliver on our commitments and are held accountable for doing so,”…
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Leaders Stress Importance of Trade Facilitation amid Downturn
Developing countries, though far from the world’s major financial centres, are being hit hard by the declines in aid, investment and export revenues triggered by the ongoing economic crisis. Amid the downturn, world leaders are calling attention to trade facilitation – which the WTO defines as “the simplification and harmonisation of international trade procedures” –…
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Ag Ministers Say Food Security Should be High on the International Agenda
Agricultural ministers from the Group of 8 major world economies met for the first time in Italy last week to highlight the problem of food prices and discuss ways to limit the impact of food emergencies. Farm leaders from the G14, a group of developed and developing countries concerned with agriculture, met ahead of the…
- WTO in Brief
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ACP Countries Slam Proposed Changes to EU Banana Tariffs
African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have spoken out against proposed changes to the EU’s banana tariff regime, which they say would harm their exporters. “We are very disappointed by our partner the European Commission because they are sacrificing development to trade liberalisation,” said Gerhard Siwat, the Surinamese ambassador. “We quite often have the feeling…
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US Delays ‘Carousel’ Sanctions in EU Beef Controversy
Amid strong pressure both at home and abroad, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk agreed in a telephone conversation with his EU counterpart on 22 April to delay for two weeks the start of controversial sanctions intended to strike back against Brussels’ ban on imports of hormone-treated beef. The announcement of the delay came just one…
- Events
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Events
4-5 May 2009, Geneva, Switzerland. ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GLOBAL NETWORK OF EXPORT-IMPORT BANKS AND DEVELOPMENT FINANCE INSTITUTIONS (G-NEXID). Preceded by a seminar discussing the global financial crisis, this seminar will discuss the current global trade and financial environment and its impact on the South-South economies and identify strategies to cope with the impact of…
- Resources
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Resources
THE ASIAN NOODLE BOWL: IS IT SERIOUS FOR BUSINESS? By Masahiro Kawai, the Asian Development Bank Institute, April 2009. This study focuses on the impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) on East Asia’s business, calling attention to the debate between those who view the agreements as a harmful Asian ‘noodle bowl’—i.e., overlapping regional trade agreements—of…