Trade

The scope to negotiate with China on the CPTPP
The scope to negotiate with China on the CPTPP
China’s recent request to begin talks to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) was a surprise. With geopolitical tensions at a high, China is…
WTO dispute settlement: why Australia bothers
WTO dispute settlement: why Australia bothers
I have three propositions about Australia’s participation in World Trade Organisation dispute settlement to put to Interpreter readers.Proposition one: the WTO dispute settlement…
Australia’s real leverage in China’s CPTTP bid
Australia’s real leverage in China’s CPTTP bid
When China applied earlier this month to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the renamed 11-nation trade pact spanning Asia and the…
Australia-India trade deal: An early harvest or cherry picking?
Australia-India trade deal: An early harvest or cherry picking?
There is a new mood of optimism around the most recent effort to revive the Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) being spearheaded by Australian…
The right climate for Indonesia-United States cooperation
The right climate for Indonesia-United States cooperation
Indonesia is feeling a little ignored. The recent visit by US Vice President Kamal Harris to Vietnam and Singapore led to speculation that Indonesia was not a priority for the…
Candour, at last, on China – but then what?
Candour, at last, on China – but then what?
The most important foreign policy speech by a cabinet minister so far this year was delivered last Monday. That Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was the speaker was a little surprising…
Australia’s essential need: not seaborne trade but seaborne supply
Australia’s essential need: not seaborne trade but seaborne supply
Tom Shugart’s Lowy Institute analysis of the rising maritime capabilities of China’s armed forces presents a bleak prospect for the imbalance between China’s growing offensive…
Economic diplomacy: After Kabul, Australia looks to India
Economic diplomacy: After Kabul, Australia looks to India
Suitcase intelligence Bob Carr recalls in his Diary of a Foreign Minister how a senior Australian intelligence official told him bluntly in 2013 that the war against the…
Australia and India: A time to refocus on trade talks
Australia and India: A time to refocus on trade talks
Australia’s former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has just completed a packed visit to India from 2–6 August as Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s special trade envoy. Abbott should…
When the chips are down: Biden’s semiconductor war
When the chips are down: Biden’s semiconductor war
Export control policy in the semiconductor sector – an industry that supplies the world’s computer, smartphone, appliances and medical equipment industry with electronic chips –…