Supply management is a disaster, and the terrible Bill C-282 will make it worse – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Bill C-282 is a terrible piece of legislation. Yet it sailed through the House of Commons and is now in the Senate, the last hope for bringing some sanity to the matter.
Indications are that key senators, including Senator Peter Boehm, chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee, have serious problems with the Bill.
The Bill amends the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act to insert a provision that prohibits the government from concluding any trade agreement that would increase foreign access to Canada’s supply managed agriculture sector.
This is an unprecedented effort that further protects the dairy, poultry and egg producers from foreign import competition. But…
Reforms Needed for Investor-State Disputes with Lawrence Herman
When you’ve got more than 2,500 international investor agreements worldwide, you’re bound to have disputes. But as trade lawyer and C.D. Howe Institute Senior Fellow Lawrence Herman points out, reforms to the dispute resolution mechanisms need reformation for greater transparency – and to ensure foreign investors still trust that their capital is being respected.
The Economics of Supply Chain Politics with Dan Ciuriak
The economics of supply chain politics doesn’t add up. C.D. Howe Institute Fellow-In-Residence Dan Ciuriak tells host Michael Hainsworth that meeting geopolitical goals by binding the invisible hand of the markets only ties it behind a country’s back.
Verbatim: The Economics of Supply Chain Politics: Dual Circulation, Derisking and the Sullivan Doctrine
This Verbatim develops and elaborates on remarks by the author at the Trade Policy Research Forum Webinar, “Friends making sense of Friend-shoring: Costs, Benefits and Prospects,” with Emily Benson, moderated by Mia Mikic, and hosted by Ben Shepherd and Hanna Norberg.The globalization of supply chains has been a significant source of economic growth over the […] Lawrence Herman – Keeping Trade Remedies on the Radar Screen
From: Lawrence Herman To: Canadians Concerned About Trade Date: May 11, 2023 Re: Keeping Trade Remedies on the Radar Screen Even if not front of mind, there have been critical developments in Canada’s trade remedy system that reflect a more expansive – indeed aggressive – Canadian trade policy, warranting closer attention by business, not least because […]Investor-State Disputes: The Record and the Reforms Needed for the Road Ahead
There are some 2,500 international investment agreements (IIAs) in force around the world, whether as stand-alone treaties or incorporated into bilateral or regional free trade agreements (FTAs). They are a significant feature of the international business scene.A main feature of these agreements is to allow foreign investors to invoke binding arbitration where it is alleged […] Jon Johnson – The Biden Administration’s New Approach to Trade
From: Jon Johnson To: Global Affairs Canada Date: May 5, 2023 Re: The Biden Administration’s New Approach to Trade Significant changes to the US government’s approach to international trade were outlined last week in a little-noted Brookings Institution presentation by White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. These changes will hit all US trading partners, […]Lawrence Herman – Battles Loom Over Green Subsidies
From: Lawrence Herman To: Canadians concerned about trade and the environment Date: May 2, 2023 Re: Battles Loom Over Green Subsidies Clouds are gathering on the trade horizon as governments subsidize ever-expanding decarbonization measures, including Ottawa’s $13 billion for Volkswagen’s new Ontario battery plant, which matched available US money. Many of these national measures to aid the transition to net-zero […]Climate subsidies like Canada’s $13-billion for Volkswagen herald new trade wars – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
As governments subsidize ever-expanding decarbonization measures, including Volkswagen’s St. Thomas, Ont., battery plant that got $13 billion from Canada, there are clouds gathering on the trade horizon.
Canada had matched what Volkswagen would have gotten under similar, American subsidies. Many of these national measures to aid the transition to net-zero emissions, even if based on the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris climate-change agreement, may run headlong against trade rules that prohibit both the subsidization of goods that enter international markets as well as local content requirements that discriminate against imports.
Governments have to find accommodation or the world could be in store for a…
Lawrence Herman – Whither the WTO? Some Thoughts on its Future
From: Lawrence Herman To: Canadians Concerned About Trade Date: April 18, 2023 Re: Whither the WTO? Some Thoughts on its Future The World Trade Organization is under stress. Major disagreements among members, including confrontations between the US and China, have hurt its operations. Its negotiating functions are at a standstill. Its dispute settlement system is dysfunctional. It is […]Lawrence Herman – Analyzing the Year Ahead
From: Lawrence Herman To: Canadians Concerned About Trade Date: January 12, 2023 Re: Analyzing the Year Ahead China’s disruptive behaviour destabilized the global trading order well before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February. Such events and trends have converged to produce tectonic shifts in international business as we go into 2023. What does this mean for what remains […]What 2023 might bring for the postwar rules-based trading system – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
China’s disruptive behaviour had de-stabilized the global trading order well before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February. Such geopolitical trends, among others, have converged to produce tectonic shifts in international business as we go forward into 2023.
So, what does this mean for what still remains of the post-Second World War rules-based trading system?
For starters, the World Trade Organization, the body that oversees the multilateral system, is under considerable stress. In spite of exhortations at its ministerial meeting last June and a recent plea from its director-general, the WTO has floundered over the past few years.
The problems are deeply entrenched. The WTO is mired in internal governance…