IIT Newsletter - September 2023

Institute for International Trade

A message from the Director

Dear Reader,

Welcome to our latest newsletter.??

I was recently in Geneva for the WTO’s annual Public Forum. It was well-attended again this year; a testament to continued interest in the organization and its central role in the global trading system. On the negotiating front it has scored a few successes of late, albeit the halcyon days of all-encompassing negotiation “rounds” are well and truly past. For further insight into my reflections on what I saw and heard in Geneva listen to our forthcoming “Trade Policy Decoded” podcast in which ACITI Executive Director Pru Gordon and I dissect where the system is moving.

The regional front is one of those ongoing directions of change. The US-led IPEF negotiations have chalked up one notable success, being the release of Pillar 2, or the Supply Chain Agreement. But what is IPEF, and what do Australian stakeholders make of it? I analysed these issues in a recently released Institute for South Asian Studies paper, part of a series of member-country perspectives on IPEF.

On the bilateral front Prime Minister Albanese looks set to visit China in November and take trade relations up another notch. High level exchanges are accumulating rapidly, matched by Australian farm exports to China which recently reached record levels. So, resumption of business as usual? I belong in the cautious camp, and in this spirit commend Mike Adams and Ron Wickes sobering opinion on measuring the economic impacts of China’s coercion campaign.

Clearly dealing with powerful authoritarian states, particularly China, is challenging for Western democracies like Australia. The Europeans are having their own debates over winning hearts and minds, particularly in relation to countering Russian aggression and courting of African leaders – long Europe’s backyard. In our final piece Stefan Liebing and Andreas Freytag make the case for elevating trade and investment to the top of the list, and de-emphasising morals, or values, issues.

Interesting times. As usual, comments on any of this are most welcome.

Best Regards,

Peter Draper

POLICY & ENGAGEMENT

Recently the IPEF’s Pillar 2 text on Supply Chains was released. But what is IPEF, and what does it mean for Australia? In this paper, published by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (Tokyo) and NUS’s Institute for South Asian Studies, IIT Executive Director Professor Peter Draper canvasses the issues.?

The Making of the Indo-Pacific Economist Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)

Professor Peter Draper, Executive Director IIT?

Quantifying the impact of Chinese coercion on key Australian commodity exports

Australian Prime Minister Albanese seems set to travel to China later this year amidst a welcome thawing of relations. Yet the impacts of China’s trade actions against Australia lingers on. In this opinion the authors assess the debate over quantifying those impacts.

Mike Adams,?former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) economist and??Ron Wickes, former Director of the Trade Analysis Section of DFAT?

Europe and Africa: Interests and values must be aligned with mutual respect

How should the west court?African leaders?

The recent Russia-Africa, and BRICS, Summits highlight that in the contest for developing countries hearts and minds authoritarian governments are very much in the game. In this piece the authors argue that Europe should tone down its rhetoric and elevate trade and investment instead.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Liebing is?CEO and owner of Conjuncta GmbH and Honorary Professor at the Centre for Business and Technology in Africa, Hochschule Flensburg.? and?Prof. Dr. Andreas Freytag?is Professor at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Visiting Professor at the Institute of International Trade.

The University of Adelaide’s Institute for International Trade (IIT) and the Australian Centre for International Trade and Investment (ACITI) are pleased to announce the launch of our Podcast?Trade Policy Decoded – a podcast that shines a light on what’s happening in trade policy in Australia and around the world.

Hosted by?Professor Peter Draper, Executive Director Institute of International Trade, and Dr Pru Gordon,?Executive Director Australian Centre for International Trade and Investment.

The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in Trade & Environment?

CALL FOR PAPERS - ROUND 1 2023?

Funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, The Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in Trade & Environment is offering a grant, awarded on a competitive basis, for research papers exploring the linkages between trade and environment. Grantees will be eligible for a payment of up to AUD 7,500. The winning papers will be officially announced through the Institute for International Trade’s (IIT) dissemination channels and posted to the COE’s website.

Proposals due 22nd September 2023