Search Results for: protectionism
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Ralph Mathekga: Trump tariffs prompt Southern Africa to boost regional cooperation
Tariff threats disrupt global trade, challenging African bodies like the SADC and highlighting the need for stronger regional unity.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: A confusing world without a hegemon
Washington has grown impatient with complacent allies. If Europe wants global influence, it will have to earn it.
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Bob Savic: China-U.S. trade conflict risks full-on economic decoupling
Washington and Beijing are increasingly deploying measures aimed at bolstering their national security, while targeting each other’s strategic economic sectors.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: Rousing Europe from its slumber
Criticizing Trump is easy. But fixing Europe’s overspending, regulations and complacency, while harder, is worth the effort.
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Urs Schöttli: Russia’s Eurasian ambitions prompt Japan’s strategic response
Japan needs to adapt its security strategy and strengthen alliances in response to rising tensions with Russia and China.
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Teresa Nogueira Pinto: Foreign aid in decline as realism shapes global assistance
A major geopolitical realignment is dismantling traditional foreign aid systems in favor of limited measures to bolster strategic national interests.
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Carole Nakhle: Pricing carbon: Developments and hurdles
Carbon pricing mechanisms are gaining traction, but a global deal remains elusive.
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Enrico Colombatto: How tariffs will shape inflation
Tariffs may not directly lead to inflation, but they risk nudging central banks in the wrong direction.
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Bob Savic: EU pivots trade ties to Asia in the face of U.S. protectionism
As transatlantic commerce ruptures, the EU is reassessing its strategic and economic priorities with the U.S. and leaning toward China and India.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: Global politics in a time of fundamental disruption
Europe’s strategic position and internal diversity offer vast opportunities in global competition, but self-centered policies can turn potential into peril if left unaddressed.
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Enrico Colombatto: Foreign trade – clouds on the horizon
German trade statistics are sagging. Most commentators attribute this phenomenon to the global business cycle. More likely, today’s figures are the outcome of earlier decisions made by German companies to move resources outside of Europe, and they are now developing their products elsewhere.
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Diane Katz: No easy way back for U.S. manufacturing
President Donald Trump declared on October 1 that the new trade deal with Canada and Mexico signifies the return of the U.S. as a “manufacturing powerhouse,” which has indeed changed dramatically since 1992. But the complex and varied factors that have reshaped factory production in the U.S. cannot be summarily reversed.
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Enrico Colombatto: The EU’s next challenge: Emerging markets
For the global economy, the road ahead is unusually clear – it is headed for a gentle slowdown. But that is no reason for complacency. The next wave of trouble is already visible in the developing countries, which are highly vulnerable to rising interest rates. The EU could do much to prevent the economic slowdown if it cared to.
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Michael Leigh: Brexit and trade
Brexit talks were supposed to be concluded at the EU summit on October 17. But the deadline passed with no breakthrough. With the clock to a “hard Brexit” ticking down, this could be the salutary shock needed to reach a compromise — or point to a future in which encourages a drift toward protectionism.
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Enrico Colombatto: The mysterious case of CEOs turning green
It is unusual when CEOs purport to define their companies’ overarching objectives. Things become even more curious when top managers team up with a bureaucracy to call for the imposition of tighter environmental standards on business.
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Enrico Colombatto: Trump’s trade war is poised for a Pyrrhic victory
The flip side of the Trump administration’s drive to reduce the U.S. foreign trade deficit is that it will leave the rest of the world with fewer dollars to finance its budget deficit. President Trump could cut spending drastically or persuade the Federal Reserve to buy more bonds, but neither seems likely.
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Pramit Pal Chaudhuri: Modi looks inward on trade
The government of India has implemented a protectionist policy on trade, taking measures to boost domestic manufacturing. Yet exports have failed to increase, in part because of red tape and poor logistics.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: The West still misunderstands the Global South
Old industrial countries’ paternalistic approach to Global South countries is wrongheaded and impractical.
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Teresa Nogueira Pinto: Charting the course of Africa’s aviation sector
A growing middle class, increasing continental integration and huge economic potential all provide reason to be optimistic about the future of Africa’s aviation sector. Yet many governments still see the industry as a cash cow or point of national pride.
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Rudolf G. Adam: Globalization: From cooperation to confrontation
Disruptive challenges to the global liberal order are intensifying. The future of globalization will be shaped by factors like climate change, protectionism, public debt and resource scarcities.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: Is the world safe from major war?
From trade protectionism to government overspending, bad economic ideas are weakening the world’s stability, while increasingly confrontational policies are adopted by global and regional powers.
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Enrico Colombatto: 2018 Global Outlook: World trade
After a surprisingly good 2017, world trade should do even better this year. But that doesn’t mean that Europe and the United States can afford to be passive. China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which will turn most of Asia into a privileged trade zone, demands a choice – either join the initiative or promote free trade outside it.
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Enrico Colombatto: The WTO drifts toward irrelevance
The WTO is a relatively cheap international organization, but it has achieved little since its creation in 1995. Reforms could make the WTO more useful, especially if they turned it into a body that collects fines from those who violate simple rules – with no exceptions.
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Karl-Friedrich Israel: The future of U.S.-Europe trade
Trade between the U.S. and the EU is likely to strengthen, even despite shifting geopolitical and geoeconomic winds.
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Walter Lohman: Asia-Pacific countries look for signs of hope in Trump trade policy
Over the past two years, protectionism has dominated U.S. trade policy decisions regarding the Asia-Pacific region. However, there are signs that the administration could soften its stance and return to more pro-free trade policies. If it does, that could lay the groundwork for a return to bigger economic engagement in the region.
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Teresa Nogueira Pinto: Reforming the African Union
Africa in 2018 was marked by important advances on the economic front, with the agreement to create a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA). While trade liberalization has the potential to be transformative for Africa, disparate stages of development, protectionist impulses, and political tensions may prevent meaningful advances.
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Enrico Colombatto: How superpowers will reshape globalization
Since the beginning of this year, the future of globalization has come under scrutiny, and may well be heading toward uncharted waters.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: Dark clouds gathering over the global economy
We are probably coming to the end of a global economic recovery. But with interest rates still hovering around zero, central banks will have no ammunition to fight a recession. Meanwhile, debt is high and more trade barriers are going up. The underlying causes in imbalances of global economy must be addressed.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: Trump’s tariff surprise: The grand disruption
President Trump’s announcement of tariffs signals a drastic shift, prompting global alarm. However, it is also a potential opportunity for systemic economic reform.
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Teresa Nogueira Pinto: The growing competition for Africa’s agricultural land
Global demand for arable land is rising, making Africa a key target for large-scale acquisitions to tackle food and energy challenges.
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Henrique Schneider: Microchips subsidies: Protectionism, not security
The political popularity of the European Chips Act does not necessarily make centrally planned investment in chip manufacturing a great idea.
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Bob Savic: EU investment screening may hasten economic protectionism
Increased restrictions on cross-border capital flows, under the guise of security and public order, are elevating the risk of global economic fragmentation.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: RCEP: A wake-up call for Europe
With the RCEP, Asian and Pacific countries have created the largest and most powerful trade zone in the world. To prioritize economic growth, the member states have put aside political issues. This could serve as an example for Europe.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: Geoeconomics in constant change
Global economic winds are shifting, and not necessarily in the way most people expect.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: Artificial intelligence: Regulations vs. innovation
The EU’s latest AI draft legislation risks stifling innovation in Europe and opens the door to misuse by governments.
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Tatiana L. Palermo: Mercosur divided
Instead of pushing for more free trade, some members of Mercosur are using it to protect their own industries. The rift may spell the end of the customs union.
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Enrico Colombatto: China, Russia and 23 others: Challenging the global system
This week’s Shanghai organization summit in Kazakhstan is likely to show once again that altering the Western-dominated world order is a very ambitious goal.
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Tatiana L. Palermo: The future of free trade
Popularity for free trade is decreasing. The WTO has failed to rein in China’s unfair economic practices since 2001, so there is no enforcement of international trade rules. This could be fatal for post-Covid recovery.
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Rudolf G. Adam: Beyond Russia’s war against Ukraine
With irreconcilable war aims between the combatants, the conflict will drag into 2024 and inflict more damage to the global economy and long-standing security arrangements.
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Enrico Colombatto: What’s wrong with the renminbi exchange rate?
Even before the most recent disagreement, the U.S. had already begun drawing attention to a new question: whether China had been engaging in protectionism by manipulating its currency. The argument reveals confused ideas about what the U.S. wants: a dominant role for the dollar or an renminbi to please American producers.
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Evgeny Gontmakher: A closer look at the Eurasian Economic Union
In theory, the Eurasian Economic Union should be an important economic influence globally. Yet it has struggled to find relevance, not least because it has not managed to build true economic integration. Can it overcome the hurdles?
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Enrico Colombatto: Trade wars: the options for Europe
Although U.S. President Trump maintains that he believes in free trade, his policy tool remains protectionism. Europe could do more to change this. For example, engage in aggressive free trade or seek bilateral deals. President Trump would be left with few justifications for trade barriers, and Brussels would acquire prominence on the world stage.
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Prince Michael of Liechtenstein: U.S. elections and institutional resilience
Looking back on one of the most surreal and emotional United States election campaigns of the last 100 years.
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Ralph Mathekga: Africa’s window of opportunity on trade
Liberalizing trade across the continent would help African nations shape emerging ties with global powers like the U.S. and China.
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Emmanuel Martin: Trade wars are bad, and nobody wins them
United States President Donald Trump insists that trade wars are “good” and “easy to win,” but history tells otherwise. His plan to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will hurt U.S. producers and will likely cost far more jobs than they protect.
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Tatiana L. Palermo: World race to self-sufficiency in strategic manufacturing
Global value chains have been shrinking for a decade; the pandemic has only accelerated the process. Western countries are now racing to reshore parts of their strategic manufacturing and make supply chains more resilient. China, meanwhile, continues its quest for dominance.
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Mojmír Hampl: Where have all the economists gone?
Support for free trade is nearly a consensus view among economic experts. Yet amid growing threats posed by deglobalization, economists are failing to stand in its defense.
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Emmanuel Martin: The paradoxes of the EU’s Africa policy
The European Union has placed huge bets on an investment program in Africa. Yet inherent flaws in its technocratic approach and a lingering paternalism toward Africa threaten the whole scheme.
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Enrico Colombatto: The U.S. is subsidizing clean energy. What about the EU?
American efforts to advantage its green energy sector may sting Europe, but Brussels has few effective options to respond.
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Adam Michel: Lowering labor taxes is essential to EU competitiveness
As Europe’s leading economies grapple with dwindling innovation, eyes are turning to evaluate the impact of high labor taxes on growth.