At home in Chile, Michelle Bachelet – that nation’s president, elected to her second term in a landslide vote in 2013 – works a tough balancing act. Her Pacific nation is home to robust capitalists – mine owners, winemakers, fruit growers whose Southern Hemisphere seasons enable them to supply Americans in winter – and militant […]
Canada’s free-trade deal with South Korea will hurt the domestic auto sector, but the pain will be softened by the fact that Canadians will have a bit more money to buy new cars, according to the first detailed analysis of the trade pact. The Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement took effect on Jan. 1, and the […]
Chile and Japan are looking to expand their economic partnership by eliminating tariffs, Chile’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday. A bilateral commission of the Chile-Japan Strategic Economic Partnership Accord met last week to discuss extending import tariff exemptions to more goods, the ministry said in a statement. Chile and Japan, along with 10 other […]
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania – The East African Community (EAC) has been advised to set a target for intra-EAC trade growth for this year of 15% by promptly eliminating Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs). Peter Kiguta, the Director General Customs and Trade at the EAC Secretariat was speaking at the 16th EAC Regional Forum on NTBs held […]
India is one of the world’s most restrictive places for trade and doing business. In 2014, it is ranked 110 out of 152 countries, in terms of economic freedom, by the Economic Freedom of the World Report. Its Freedom to Trade Index was 6.2 (highest score 10.0), 124 out of 152.[i]Doing business in India remains […]
Malaysia’s GDP was ranked by the IMF at 35th globally in 2013. The country has a major commodity sector and wide-ranging export-base manufacturing and service industries. Malaysia has great potential to grow through further trade liberalization. However, many of the goods and services produced now are typically supplied to government agencies under decades-long government procurement […]
Among arguments used by those opposing free trade agreements, especially the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations, is the potential decline of Malaysia’s trade surpluses if we join a big trade group with dominant players such as the United States. Sri Murniati, Manager of Political Economy and Governance Unit at the Institute for Democracy and Economic […]
The relationship between trade and poverty is inverted. Countries with higher proportions of global trade tend to have less of poverty. Conversely, countries, which contribute the least to global trade have higher poverty rates. This shows the importance of good trade policies in reducing poverty rates and increasing prosperity. Also, this shows why there is […]
Whether the 12-nation Trans Pacific Deal will conclude in the near future largely depends on the degree to which U.S. and Japan are willing to compromise on agriculture issues. Reuters reported last week that progress in U.S. talks with Japan towards a Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact is encouraging, but difficult issues remain, the acting deputy U.S. trade representative […]
According a recent blog at World Economic Forum, Out of the total number of exporting firms, more than 80% are SMEs (over 600,000 exporters). With over €500 billion of merchandised exports, SMEs account for over a third of EU exports. These exporting SMEs employ more than 6 million people throughout Europe. Therefore, while the happy […]