Financial Times (March 2)
“Europe as a whole, the UK included, should prepare for two foreseeable material economic shocks this year: a spread in the coronavirus and a WTO Brexit.” This may help create “the perfect storm for an economy dependent on exports and global supply chains.”
Tags: Brexit, Coronavirus, Economic shocks, Europe, Exports, Foreseeable, Material, Supply chains, UK, WTO
The Economist (November 30)
World trade “works best when there is a referee, and for nearly 25 years a group of seven judges at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has done the job. But on December 11th this body will cease to function, because America is blocking new appointments.” Losing this final arbiter ”will make cross-border commerce unrulier and, in the long run, invite an anarchy that would make the world poorer.”
Tags: Anarchy, Appointments, Cross-border commerce, Judges, Poorer, Referee, U.S., Unrulier, World trade, WTO
Financial Times (June 25)
“The latest Brexit fantasy is the most absurd of all. Article 24 of the WTO’s underlying treaty is not a solution to no-deal.” If Boris Johnson wins the election, “he needs to have a plan ready to deal with the disappointment of his followers when it turns out they were sold policies under false pretences. A unilateral invocation of part of Article 24 is not a way out of the UK’s Brexit predicament. If Mr Johnson and his followers do not know that, they soon will.”
Tags: Absurd, Article 24, Brexit, Disappointment, Election, False pretences, Fantasy, Johnson, No-deal, Treaty. Solution, UK, WTO
The Economist (July 21)
“The headquarters of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), on the banks of Lake Geneva, once belonged to the League of Nations. That ill-fated body was crippled by American isolationism. The building’s occupant today is also at the mercy of decisions taken in Washington.” But all is not lost. “Free-traders are right to be deeply worried, but not yet right to despair.” The WTO “may yet be saved” and there are some encouraging signs. For example, “China and the EU agreed on July 16th to co-operate on WTO reform.”
Tags: China, Crippled, Despair, EU, Free-traders, League of Nations, Reform, U.S. Isolationism, WTO
Bloomberg (January 26)
“Why are economists so willing to declare to the world that free trade is good?” Their consensus flies in the face of popular opinion and “powerful evidence that industries and regions that have been more exposed to Chinese import competition since 2000—the year China joined the World Trade Organization—have been hit hard and have not recovered.”
Tags: China, Competition, Consensus, Economists, Evidence, Free trade, Imports, Industries, Popular opinion, Regions, WTO
New York Times (January 1)
“After 14 years of talks, members of the World Trade Organization have effectively ended the Doha round of negotiations. That was not unexpected given how fruitless these discussions have been. Now, world leaders need to think anew about the global trading system.”
Tags: Doha, Fruitless, Global trading system, World leaders, WTO
The Economist (December 14, 2013)
Despite its modest scope, “the first global deal since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) came into existence in 1995” is an achievement. “It includes some useful stuff: by one estimate, cutting customs red tape could raise annual global output by $400 billion, with much of the gain flowing to developing economies.” With fresh approaches, this momentum can be this leveraged to achieve other modest, but noteworthy deals.
Tags: Customs, Deal, Developing economies, Fresh approaches, Global output, Momentum, Red tape, WTO
Economist (October 15)
The Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act threatens a trade war with China and would, in all likelihood, be found to contravene WTO rules. On October 11, the U.S. Senate passed the legislation. The House should not pass the bill, and President Obama should promise a veto. “The global economy is sicker than a man with a bellyful of bad oysters. The last thing it needs now is a trade war.”
The Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act threatens a trade war with China and would, in all likelihood, be found to contravene the WTO’s rules. On October 11, the U.S. Senate passed the legislation. The House should not pass the bill, and President Obama should promise a veto. “The global economy is sicker than a man with a bellyful of bad oysters. The last thing it needs now is a trade war.”
Wall Street Journal (October 19)
“Like OPEC in the 1970s, Beijing seems willing to put the developed world over a barrel.” China has become the world’s final assembler, and aspires to more. By placing a stranglehold on the export of rare earths, Beijing thinks it can force technology transfer. If essential rare earths are difficult to attain overseas, companies will have to move high-end processes to China. The Wall Street Journal believes this gambit is unacceptable. China’s accession to the WTO in 2000 specifically forbids quotas on all products and export taxes on rare earths.
Tags: China, Quotas, Rare earths, Technology transfer, WTO
