2 Feb 2023
Economic diplomacy: Diversification is hard to do
Treasurer Jim Chalmers should rise above outdated jibes at the IMF to justify his aims for a new values-based economy.
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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. -
11 Jan 2023
Crossing the carbon border
International trade is skewed in favour of exporters who pay less for carbon emissions. The EU wants to change that. -
20 Dec 2022
To unchain Indonesia’s commodity reliance
Riches from minerals and agriculture resources are yet to transform the local economy. Wider reforms should be the goal. -
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. -
13 Dec 2022
2022: A global turning point
Looking at trends and contours that have coalesced this year to make international politics more contested and unpredictable. -
17 Nov 2022
Economic diplomacy: Charging up old ties with Jakarta
Australia has stepped up a trade diversification push despite the first moves towards reconciliation with China. -
15 Nov 2022
Putting food at the heart of China-Indonesia relations
Beijing sees Indonesia as a major contributor to its food security and this has found receptive ears in Jakarta. -
9 Nov 2022
Countdown to Asia’s summit season
Conflict in Myanmar and Ukraine against a backdrop of US‑China tension – a crowded agenda will unfold in coming weeks. -
3 Nov 2022
Economic diplomacy: Searching for APEC
APEC faces some new competition as Australia considers the sovereign risks involved in reducing domestic gas prices. -
10 Oct 2022
EU in the driver’s seat on Indo-Pacific trade deals
Is the New Zealand–European Union free trade agreement an omen for Australia’s negotiations? -
13 Sep 2022
The Quad needs a stronger economic message
Trade is the path to regional prosperity, but the four partners stand divided on how this can be achieved. -
11 Aug 2022
Economic diplomacy: No free lunches for national security
New foreign investment rules, nuisance tariffs and supply chains are all under scrutiny by the Productivity Commission. -
28 Jul 2022
Economic diplomacy: The Pacific reset needs real commercial investment
The language of geopolitics is trickling down to unexpected corners of the economy with wide-ranging long-term impact. -
27 Jul 2022
Economic diplomacy: The Pacific beats ASEAN for nervous investors
Abe Shinzo’s passing and the Timor oil spy case dismissal reveal new thinking about what national security means. -
27 Jun 2022
Economic diplomacy: New supply chains to Jakarta and beyond
Business diversification is looking more positive in Indonesia but more confusing in the broader Indo-Pacific. -
2 Jun 2022
Economic diplomacy: New Labor ministers are facing up to old issues
Reshaping policies on the Pacific, Indonesia and domestic manufacturing is already revealing a changing of the guard. -
31 May 2022
Japan-Australia: building a hydrogen supply chain
Efforts to develop a network for cleaner energy in the Indo-Pacific marks a practical step for closer relations. -
26 May 2022
Where to for trade policy?
Australia is building the micro foundations for global cooperation. -
12 May 2022
A flash in the pan? Indonesia’s palm oil export ban
Apparent domestic shortages appear more a case of a government stand-off with industry over pricing. -
5 May 2022
Economic diplomacy: Trade shifts challenge a new government
“Friendshoring” offers a half-way house between reshoring production and diversifying markets in a deglobalising world. -
21 Apr 2022
A first for India and a chance to trade up with Australia
The new trade deal should be a stepping stone for the two countries to make their economic partnership comprehensive. -
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. -
24 Feb 2022
Economic diplomacy: Slow dividends for Australia from ASEAN spending
Amid the Ukraine sanctions showdown, an Indian trade deal looms as a pre-election win for the Morrison government. -
27 Jan 2022
Will the EU step up to secure rules-based Indo-Pacific trade?
The rivalry with China is systemic and heft is needed to anchor market-orientated trade. -
18 Jan 2022
Australia has a solution to Indonesia’s soaring food prices
As Indonesia takes the G20 presidency solving the country’s food security crisis should be top of the agenda. -
21 Dec 2021
Economic diplomacy: Retro shopping beats the supply chain crisis
WWW Santa beware. The gift trade is still subject to the old-school padded tromp of shoe leather. -
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. -
22 Oct 2021
China’s economic sanctions made Australia more confident
Greed hasn’t left Canberra cowering in the face of Beijing’s attempted punishment. -
21 Oct 2021
Economic diplomacy: Los Angeles port pips China as Christmas grinch
Amid an emerging global trade supply chain crisis, Australian economic policy advisers are more reserved about risks. -
4 Oct 2021
The scope to negotiate with China on the CPTPP
It would be useful to have more cooperative economic ballast in relations, even as other things might deteriorate. -
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. -
28 Sep 2021
Australia’s real leverage in China’s CPTTP bid
Beijing has handed Canberra an unexpected bargaining chip. The question is how to best use it? -
21 Sep 2021
Australia-India trade deal: An early harvest or cherry picking?
A pragmatic tone appears to distinguish the revived talks. Ambitious, not so much. -
10 Sep 2021
The right climate for Indonesia-United States cooperation
If Washington is to judge its trade partners on environmental measures, Jakarta actually has a good story to tell. -
10 Sep 2021
Candour, at last, on China – but then what?
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has made explicit Australia’s challenge. The next step is ensuring business knows the plan. -
3 Sep 2021
Australia’s essential need: not seaborne trade but seaborne supply
“Sea control” is not about dominating waters but only to the extent necessary to ensure the movement needed. -
26 Aug 2021
Economic diplomacy: After Kabul, Australia looks to India
Australia has a lower war-to-aid ratio, but the US is more transparent about its failure against the Taliban. -
9 Aug 2021
Australia and India: A time to refocus on trade talks
Tony Abbott’s visit to India shows conditions are ripe to advance a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. -
27 Jul 2021
When the chips are down: Biden’s semiconductor war
Export controls on US semiconductor tech into China didn’t stop with Trump. -
1 Jul 2021
Sweet and sour: Taiwan’s pork and pineapple battles
Nationalist consumer sentiment has become a decisive factor in Taiwan’s food bans with the US and China. -
24 Jun 2021
Australia sweeps the table in the UK trade deal
Tariff elimination on this scale through a free trade agreement is almost unprecedented. -
17 Jun 2021
Economic diplomacy: Trade deals for a fast-growing family
New ties with Britain to “right a historic wrong” but visa schemes for regional workers could generate another headache. -
4 May 2021
Australia keeps calm while China carries on
In the face of sustained coercion, Canberra has rejected the urge to seek economic revenge against Beijing. -
30 Apr 2021
Taiwan: Renewing a southbound vision
Increasing economic ties with Southeast Asia has been a success for Tsai Ing-wen. She should look beyond to India, too. -
22 Apr 2021
Economic diplomacy: Supply chains, ASEAN wanes, and Japan’s coal dump
Will government have to pick a winner for 6G networks to show the US and Japan as “global leaders in innovation”? -
15 Apr 2021
Will the Five Eyes stare down China’s economic coercion?
Trade figures suggest promises to “have Australia’s back” are yet to be matched by economic solidarity. -
8 Apr 2021
The big bark but small bite of China’s trade coercion
Targeted sanctions on Australian exports have affected billions in trade, but the real damage has been limited. -
2 Apr 2021
With Xinjiang cotton, Beijing is taking on the world
The latest “us-versus-them” drama shows China sees little chance of mending ties with the West, for now at least.