Trade

Free trade can survive its Wallonian wobble

25 Oct 2016

The tiny Belgian region is holding up a trade pact between Europe and Canada. That doesn’t mean such deals are impossible, though - they just need even more time and creative thinking. The messy process also undermines the notion that ordinary people have no say in globalisation.

Philippines U.S. “goodbye” can fix China FDI gap

21 Oct 2016

President Rodrigo Duterte's boast of ditching America for China plays well in Beijing. Cash is a major motivation. China is under-invested in the Philippines compared to elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Funds from the People's Republic can help Duterte deliver on big promises.

Britain starts Brexit; now so might banks

3 Oct 2016

The UK's two-year process to leave the European Union will kick off by the end of March. Financial groups wondering whether to move operations now have the same uncertainty as before, only with a hard 2019 deadline. That could prompt the start of the big relocation.

Japan has most to lose from global trade backlash

26 Sep 2016

The country is begging America to ratify the TPP trade pact and urging Britain to handle Brexit carefully. The desperate pleas reflect Japan's outsized reliance on international trade. TPP also helps Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake up the domestic economy, especially in farming.

China tosses trading partners some import scraps

9 Sep 2016

In August, for the first time in 22 months, imports turned positive. But most foreign exporters and China bashers can keep the bubbly on ice. The data's timing has a whiff of diplomacy. Beijing will keep its aggressive trade policies in place so long as they serve other goals.

Barnier’s Brexit gig better than it looks for UK

27 Jul 2016

Brussels' ex-financial services tsar is to lead EU talks over Britain's exit. Michel Barnier has at times raised British hackles, but he largely treated the City of London fairly. Arbitration won't be smooth, but the identity of the negotiator could have been worse.

Short hit on Itochu is wake-up call for Japan

27 Jul 2016

A report by U.S. firm Glaucus poses hard questions about how the $20 bln trading house accounts for big investments in Colombia and China. Like activists before them, foreign short-sellers could help shake up a market that often looks too cosy.

Clinton and Kaine become globalization’s defenders

22 Jul 2016

The Democratic presidential candidate selected Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate. The former governor is a moderate who backed trade deals in the past. Their first task will be to win over liberals who supported Bernie Sanders and are being courted by Donald Trump.

Chancellor: Inequality breeds outbreak of populism

23 Jul 2016

The rich have enjoyed most of the fruits of globalisation, just as they did in 19th-century America. Unless politicians can enact benign policies to rectify the widening gap between the have-somes and have-lots, more unpleasant alternatives will loom on the horizon.

China’s legal defeat is new threat to Asian trade

14 Jul 2016

The People's Republic has angrily rejected an international panel's denial of its claims in the South China Sea. Though rhetorical sabre-rattling is mostly harmless, an economic backlash would hurt already-weak imports and exports in the region. Such tactics have misfired before.