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See Hinrich Foundation research and researchers featured in the press.
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IPEF trade void raises stakes for Raimondo
US Commerce chief Gina Raimondo is in the Philippines this week as the Biden administration faces scrutiny over slow progress on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. “In this politically charged environment, virtually no one in the world expects much progress on trade via IPEF in 2024,” Hinrich Foundation's Kurt Tong and Chuin Wei Yap wrote in The Hill.
State media blasts ‘anti-China show’ as American lawmakers seek to force sale of TikTok
Analysts say China will not allow the sale of TikTok, and that even in the US, the act would face procedural obstacles. Divisions between the House and Senate would slow the process down, says Hinrich Foundation Research Fellow Alex Capri. "Unlike the House committee vote ... passage in the Senate is likely to be more contentious."
Outside voices: What (and when) is next for the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific?
Politics have largely shelved any US hopes for near-term adoption of a trade pillar in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, even in the presence of a “dire need” for area engagement, argue Hinrich Foundation advisor Kurt Tong and Director of Research Chuin Wei Yap in an op-ed for The Hill.
American lawmakers’ latest effort to force TikTok parent ByteDance to divest its popular short video platform is not expected to make progress. The Chinese government “would block the sale”, said Alex Capri, Hinrich Foundation Research Fellow and a senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore's Business School.
Europe, in denial, longs for rules-based global trade order
Hard-to-resolve disputes between Brussels and Washington come down to their views on how trade should work. “The Americans want the Europeans to engage in practices vis-à-vis China, which the Europeans believe would be contrary to WTO rules,” said Keith Rockwell, Hinrich Foundation Senior Research Fellow and veteran former WTO spokesperson.
Don’t just blame the US; India is blocking WTO reform too
As the global trade body counts down to its 13th ministerial meeting in Abu Dhabi, New Delhi has re-escalated its confrontational rhetoric as it demands concessions on agriculture. But its leverage on some issues appears to have weakened of late. "[Hostage-taking tactics] only work if the other side desperately wants something,” Keith Rockwell said.
Global institutions struggling to contain tensions
The global institutional architecture designed in the aftermath of WWII is showing its age. Trade is the most contested area of all, with frictions expected to dominate next week's WTO MC13. "Divisions run so deep that no serious negotiations will be conducted in Abu Dhabi and no outcomes will emerge," writes Research Fellow Keith Rockwell.
Peering through the gloom at the WTO meeting ahead
"It’s a couple of weeks now until the WTO ministerial meeting in the UAE... The mood among delegates is currently sober bordering on sombre bordering on sepulchral." Alan Beattie cited an analysis by Hinrich Foundation Senior Research Fellow Keith Rockwell for a "good rundown of the issues [at MC13] with an appropriately dark tinge."
Time running out for WTO dealmaking
"Trade ministers from the 164 members of the World Trade Organization will be in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, two weeks from today for what could be one of most disappointing ministerial conferences in recent memory. Former WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell captured the mood in a piece last week for the Hinrich Foundation."
Former WTO official: MC13 poised for failure on key fronts
If World Trade Organization negotiations continue as they have, ministers are likely to leave the 13th ministerial conference without deals in many top-priority areas including fisheries subsidies, agriculture, the e-commerce moratorium and dispute settlement reform, writes Senior Research Fellow Keith Rockwell.
Spanish Galleons in Singapore Tell Powerful Trade Story
"Commonly described as being in retreat, globalization has taken many forms over the centuries....Trade and investment links are in a constant state of evolution," writes columnist Daniel Moss, inspired by the "Manila Galleon: From Asia to the Americas" exhibition at Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum, co-sponsored by the Hinrich Foundation.
One way China is growing more dependent on Taiwan
China is the world’s largest importer and exporter of intermediate goods, and Taiwan makes up the largest share of China’s intermediate good imports at 14% in 2022 – up from 12.2% in 2018. Quartz cites from a report authored by Oxford Economics and commissioned by the Hinrich Foundation.
