International Trade

The China–Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signed and made public on 17 June 2015, included investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions, which allow foreign investors to claim against host states that violate substantive commitments if the treaty’s inter-state arbitration mechanism is...

Last summer, a debate over the historically ho-hum Export-Import Bank of the United States (aka Ex-Im Bank) simmered over and went mainstream, as a growing chorus of Republicans and many companies demanded its dismantling. Like many government agencies, the Ex-Im...

Republican leaders and President Obama appear to have aborted a plan to put off a “final” vote on a fast-track trade bill until the end of July and may bring it before the House as soon as today. Republican leaders...

The China-Australia free trade agreement is not just another FTA. In the coming decade, it will make a unique contribution to stability and prosperity in the Asia Pacific. After almost a decade of talks, China and Australia recently signed a...

The doomsayers claim that the role of the dollar is being eclipsed by the rise of the Chinese yuan.  Others see the demise of the dollar and some countries, like Iran and Russia, selling oil in other currencies than the...

Over the last several days, President Barack Obama pulled out all the stops to pass Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) – aka fast track –, which would restrict Congress to an up-or-down vote without amendments on trade deals for the next...

After the Senate’s refusal to pass trade promotion authority (TPA) on May 12, some trade advocates feared that President Obama’s ongoing commercial negotiations with Asia and Europe would die a slow death. Yesterday’s narrow vote in the Senate to close...

Unless the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks conclude soon, they risk dragging on interminably. If that happens, the United States’ capacity to function as a benign world hegemon will be diminished. To avoid this, the White House is determined to...

Successful horse-trading got the US Senate closer to granting the President Trade Promotion Authority for the first time since 2002.  Sixty votes needed to push the process to the next step and that is exactly what happened after a deal...

Ever since the post-gold standard age of adjustable exchange rates was inaugurated in the mid-1930s to consensually engineer a negotiated depreciation, the question of exchange rates and of trade have been entwined and subject to international oversight. This certainly should...

Reports exaggerated the significance of the May 12 procedural vote in the US Senate.  Some called it a rebuke of Obama.  Others said it was a stunning blow or a sharp defeat. It was none of these things. After looking...

China and India are ready for breakthrough diplomacy that has the potential to reorder the face of Asia, while supporting global growth prospects. From May 14th to 16th, India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, will make a three-day trip to China...

The main legislative hurdle to granting Obama Trade Promotion Authority (fast track) was supposed to be in the House of Representatives. This makes the defeat on a procedural vote in the Senate even more surprising. Vocal opposition came from the...

Is the time ripe for a new push for normalised trade between India and Pakistan? The foreign secretaries of both nations recently met in Islamabad. The two countries can expect formal talks to resume after a hiatus of six months....

The Senate Finance Committee is currently considering a trade bill that would extend “fast-track” negotiating authority to the president while also demanding a larger role for Congress than it has taken in the past. The Senate Finance Committee is currently...