Foreign Policy Blogs

Global Trade

US-SKFTA FAIL!

US-SKFTA FAIL!

Last June President Obama stood on the world stage and said he would have the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement sign on this trip to Asia. Last week, he against stood on the world stage on said trip to Asia and was forced to admit failure on this issue. The global trade world was hopeful […]

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Former USTR Elected to Senate

Former USTR Elected to Senate

Rob Portman, United States Trade Representative under George W. Bush, was perhaps the most successful person to hold this job after Robert Zoellick. Last week he was elected to service in the Senate representing my home state of Ohio. He was hammered hard for his support of free trade during the campaign but managed to win by […]

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What goes around…

What goes around…

Boeing spent years pushing U.S. administrations to pursue (largely legitimate) trade sanctions against Airbus at the WTO. These cases largely went in favor of the U.S. with the WTO ruling that Airbus had received government subsidies, considered illegal under WTO rules. Before these cases could be settled, potentially causing major problems for U.S.-European relations, comes […]

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USW trade complaint with USTR against China

USW trade complaint with USTR against China

According to Washington Trade Daly The United Steelworks Union has recently filed a unfair trade practices petition with the office of the US Trade Representative. The letter maintains that several Chinese policies and practices are “illegal” and threatens the U.S. economy. In particular they maintain that the U.S. alternative and renewable energy sectors are being […]

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Ron Kirk finally finds something to do

Recent news suggests that the Obama administration is once again buckling to the pressure of labor unions, this time by pursuing trade sanctions against Guatemala. Yes, Guatemala. Forget that this is the big guy beating up on the little guy, or the rich guy beating up on the poor guy, Guatemala has signed a free […]

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Other WTO News

Indonesia is brining a case against the United States over the ban on clove cigarettes. The Americans claim the ban is meant to improve the health of young people. The Indonesians claim it is discriminatory as the ban specifically does not cover menthol cigarettes. This might have something to do with the strong tobacco lobby […]

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WTO: Boeing vs. Airbus

Last month the WTO ruled against Airbus, stating that they had illegally received loans from European governments, giving them an unfair advantage over Boeing. This decision was obviously celebrated by the Americans. As with most legal cases however, this is not the end. The Europeans will appeal the case and say they will not stop […]

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Good Bye Panda Diplomacy; Hello Checkbook Diplomacy

Perhaps one of the most interesting and underreported news items of the past year has been the progression of the China-Taiwan Free Trade Agreement (also know by the very Chinese sounding mouth-full of a name Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement or ECFA). It was less than twenty years ago that President Clinton had to send the […]

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Welcome!

The last two years has been the dark ages for global trade. The combination of the economic downturn, a new American administration not inherently included to embrace free trade, and the stalled Doha Development Round has meant a lot of early night and long weekends at the World Trade Organization – nothing much has been […]

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New Blog Coming Soon

Welcome to the Global Trade blog, the latest addition to the Foreign Policy Blogs network.

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