Trends Transforming Trade

International engagement, rules-based, fair and freer trade are being challenged today on the basis of narrow self-interest, ill-informed discourse and outright disregard for the facts. Which is why an organisation that can play an important role in raising, substantially, the quality of the discussion around trade, the quality of the conduct of trade around the world, and the wider positive impact of trade on development, poverty-reduction and economic inclusion is so important.

The Executive Director and Advisory Committee of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA) invite expressions of interest from leading experts across all areas of international trade, to contribute to one or more Working Committees relating to specific specialisations in international trade.

November 2017: This is an updated version of an earlier post on Talking Trade, modified to reflect the TPP11 changes and the expansion of the agenda in RCEP. However, because RCEP, especially, remains under negotiation, the assessment should be viewed with some caution. For further discussion on how you can use or influence these agreements, please see us soon at the Asian Trade Centre.

Broken down, the new elements are the inclusion of the suspended bits (discussed more below), the revised entry into force (necessary after the US pulled out), a new section on withdrawal (the necessity of which was made crystal clear after the US pulled out), a new section on accession (since the old one was too vague anyway), a potentially interesting article 6 that seems to review the whole agreement in the future, and article 7 that copies across all of the original commitments and texts from TPP12.

Proving once again that good ideas cannot be killed, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is ready to move into force as soon as next year. Companies had largely given up on the TPP after the withdrawal of the United States. Now firms will need to scramble to figure out how the agreement matters to their business and what steps they should take to maximize the opportunities and minimize the risks arising from the most important trade agreement in decades.

On the eve of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China, the trade waters have been stirred up further by a pair of rulings issued by the US Department of Commerce late on Friday, October 27. In a 205-page memo, Commerce officials argued that China remains a non-market economy (NME) because “it does not operate sufficiently on market principles to permit the use of Chinese prices and costs for the purposes of the Department’s antidumping analysis.”

Education providers around the world should look to now join the GTPA and become an Approved Education Provider. This will provide education providers with the opportunity to be a recognised pathway for individuals to demonstrate their professional trade competencies as well as a platform to promote their institution as part of a globally recognised alliance.

15-19 July 2018

Following on the heels of the Prime Minister’s very successful and well-received delegation of senior Australian business and government leaders in February, AmCham Australia is pleased to offer your business the opportunity to send a representative on the AmCham Washington Doorknock 2018.

Join the Supporting Women’s Access to Global Markets Online Course for the APEC Business Community. Developed by the Australian APEC Study Centre and Australian Government, the training explores how business groups can better support women entrepreneurs and business owners to build export-ready businesses and access global markets. This course launched on 19 April 2021 and will be available as a free online resource until December 2021.

Australia has taken the first step in commencing formal consultations with Canada regarding measures Australia believes impose arbitrary and disadvantageous restrictions on the sale of imported wine in Canadian grocery stores, inconsistent with Canada's WTO obligations.

What is dumping and what do wine exporters need to do now?

The announcement that China has commence an anti-dumping investigation into Australia wine has come as a surprise many. Dumping is associated with unfair tactics and selling goods at a loss. This isn't what is associated with the Australian wine industry. However, the industry is in for a nasty shock – you can be found to be dumping even when acting ethically and selling at a profit.

It is easy to argue that the investigation is politically motivated. However, it is important to keep in mind that this week Canada commenced a dumping investigation against Australian gluten. Further, since the start of this year, Australian has commenced five anti-dumping investigations against Chinese products. Australian wine exporters need to focus on how to get the best outcome from the investigation, rather than question the motives of the Chinese government.