Trade Update – 06th October 2022: MAJOR ANNIVERSARY OF GLOBAL TRADE AGREEMENT, US CONVENES MEETING OF “CHIP 4” ECONOMIES, AUSTRALIA TALKS TRADE WITH SPAIN and many more…
Weekly trade review provided by Chatto Creek Advisory Pty.
Chatto Creek Advisory Pty Ltd is a Melbourne-based strategic consultancy specialising in trade policy advice and government engagement strategy. It is headed by Russell Scoular, an executive with rich government relations, trade policy, and business experience throughout the Asia Pacific.
MAJOR ANNIVERSARY OF GLOBAL TRADE AGREEMENT: The 75th anniversary of the signing of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) will pass this month. It was signed by 23 economies in October 1947. The functions of GATT were largely taken over by the new World Trade Organization in 1995.
US CONVENES MEETING OF “CHIP 4” ECONOMIES: A first virtual meeting of the “Chip 4” economies was held during the week. The participating economies in the US-led semiconductor grouping are Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the US. Its key issues include the creation of more resilient supply chains.
AUSTRALIA TALKS TRADE WITH SPAIN: Trade Minister Farrell met with the Spanish Trade Minister Marias Reyes Maroto Illera during the week. Following the meeting Senator Farrell said he had reiterated Australia could only agree to an EU FTA that generated new commercially meaningful market access in all sectors.
NEW ZEALAND BANS LIVESTOCK EXPORTS: Legislation has passed the New Zealand Parliament to ban the export of livestock by sea. The ban will apply from April 2023 and follows a review of the livestock export trade. A livestock ship carrying with 6000 live cattle from New Zealand to China sank off Japan in 2020.
SOUTH KOREA RATIFIES TRADE AGREEMENTS: The National Assembly in Seoul has ratified new free trade agreements with both Israel and Cambodia. The negotiation of the agreements was finalized in January 2022 and February 2021 respectively. The FTAs are expected to come into force by the end of the year.
MALAYSIA & TURKIYE HOLD FIRST MEETING: Malaysia and Turkiye held the first meeting of a Joint Economic and Trade Council during the week. It was co-chaired by Trade Ministers Azmin Ali and Mehmet Mus. A protocol to expand their FTA to include services, investment and e-commerce was also signed.
AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS NEW TRADE TRENDS: The Ai Group has published a policy paper highlighting five new trade trends that it believes will challenge the traditional trade order. They include protectionism and geopolitics, digital, plurilateral trade clubs, carbon pricing and supply chain resilience.
SRI LANKA TO REVIVE SINGAPORE FTA: President Wickremesinghe is to focus on implementing an FTA with Singapore. He told Prime Minister Lee in Tokyo during the week that a trade office was being established in his office. The FTA was signed in 2018 but opposition in Sri Lanka stalled further progress.
AUSTRALIAN TRADE OFFICIAL GETS DIPLOMATIC POSTING: Foreign Minister Wong announced during the week that Simon Twisk will be Australia’s next Ambassador to Argentina. Dr Twisk was most recently Assistant Secretary of the Free Trade Agreement Goods Branch and has also served at the WTO in Geneva.
NZ BOOSTS EXPORT WORKERS: NZ has announced 3000 more workers from Pacific Island economies will be able to work in industries including its key horticulture and wine export sectors. This means 19,000 workers from the Pacific Islands will be able to enter NZ under its Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme.
