bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blog-topics/economic-growth/ Thu, 18 Jan 2024 22:48:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 /wp-content/uploads/2018/08/android-chrome-256x256-80x80.png bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blog-topics/economic-growth/ 32 32 bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blogs/agoa-renew/ Fri, 10 Nov 2023 21:34:39 +0000 /?post_type=blogs&p=41480 The question is how to expand Africa’s economic growth without endorsing undemocratic behaviour. At the 20th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) annual forum in Johannesburg last week, the United States...

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The question is how to expand Africa’s economic growth without endorsing undemocratic behaviour.

At the 20th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) annual forum in Johannesburg last week, the United States (US) government and Congress, African trade ministers and business representatives, organised labour and civil society agreed it should be reauthorised before expiring in 2025.

When AGOA was last renewed in 2015, it seemed that might be the last renewal, and that this concession should be replaced by a conventional reciprocal free trade agreement (FTA) or several FTAs. AGOA gives eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market for most products without having to reciprocate. A decade later, no such FTAs are in prospect, not least because the US has gone off free trade.

So, faced with the alternative of no preferential access for Africa after 2025, both sides of the Atlantic seem committed to extending AGOA. The only questions are the period of renewal, and how to ensure more African countries can benefit.

Constance Hamilton, Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa, said before the forum that AGOA ‘has not met the expectations we had in 2000,’ when it was founded. Though some countries have benefitted, AGOA hasn’t been a ‘game changer for the continent’ in boosting its overall economy and regional integration.

So the forum discussed ways to bring in more countries – this after the number was reduced from 35 to 31. Niger and Gabon will be ejected from 1 January 2024 because of coups, and Uganda and Central African Republic for undemocratic behaviour.

However, the priority is renewal. Participating African countries’ trade ministers called for an extension of at least 10 years, and retention of all current beneficiary countries to preserve value chains and support Africa’s industrialisation efforts.

The forum heard that apart from the benefits to Africa, AGOA also supported 155 000 US jobs. The US also backed the programme’s renewal through statements or video messages by President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and several congressional leaders of both parties. That bipartisan support is vital as reauthorisation would happen in Congress.

And just after the forum closed, Democratic Party Senator Chris Coons – an influential friend of Africa on the foreign relations committee – released a draft bill to renew AGOA until 2041. ‘This long-term extension would provide businesses with the predictability needed to invest in Sub-Saharan Africa at a time when many firms are looking to diversify their supply chains and reduce dependence on China,’ Coons said.

His bill proposed several changes to expand AGOA’s usage, reflecting many issues discussed at the forum. For instance, to extend the programme and integrate it with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Coons’ bill would modify AGOA’s rules of origin to allow inputs from North African AfCFTA members.

His bill would also keep more countries in AGOA by only ‘graduating’ them out when they have maintained high-income status for five consecutive years. This would avoid removing some countries and letting them back in if their economies fluctuated around the high-income threshold – as Mauritius recently did. The draft bill also proposes that the current annual eligibility reviews of all 49 sub-Saharan African states happen only every three years.

However, Coons’ bill has a sharp sting in the tail. It intends to eject South Africa from AGOA by calling for an immediate ‘out-of-cycle’ review of the country’s eligibility. The move reflects resentment on both sides of the aisle in Congress about Pretoria’s warm relations with Russia, Hamas and its sponsor Iran.

Stephen Lande, President of international business advisers Manchester Trade, supported the bill – but as the first step to renew and then enhance AGOA. He told ISS Today that South Africa’s Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel made the same proposal at the end of the forum. Prompt renewal would avoid a decline in orders in AGOA’s most successful sector (garments assembled from Far East fabrics), since it takes about two years to complete an order.

But Lande said the changes in Coons’ bill wouldn’t correct some of AGOA’s major challenges. He proposes giving the US administration more discretion in deciding which countries should be removed, instead of being forced to remove those that fall foul of the bill’s conditionalities. At present, more than 10 of the 49 countries are not eligible for AGOA benefits.

‘The Administration should be able to weigh the advantages of removing a country versus the collateral damage. For instance, allowing a dictator to scapegoat the US for his own failings, or letting China in, or harming the very groups AGOA is designed to assist (women in the sewing trade who have been harmed by AGOA suspensions in Madagascar and Ethiopia), or disrupting supply chains.’

Lande said he would also ease the rules of origin, which now require 35% value added in the AGOA member country for the product to qualify. He noted that with components becoming more expensive relative to labour, the 35% threshold was unrealistic. Lande said he would allow duty-free imports of processed cocoa products that currently incur punitive tariffs as they contain dairy products and sugar.

He would designate all AfCFTA members as members of AGOA if they were otherwise eligible – and not just include them for cumulation of inputs as Coons proposes. This would embrace North African countries that aren’t currently part of AGOA.

All these proposals would deepen and extend AGOA benefits. However, Lande’s proposal to give the US administration more discretion to consider other strategic factors, like deciding whether or not to expel African states for bad behaviour, would provoke difficult ethical debates.

Is it better to incentivise democracy by expelling countries for undemocratic behaviour – at the cost of greater African economic advancement and integration? Or to prioritise economic development, believing this will eventually boost democracy? A perennial imponderable.

To read the full article, click here.

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bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blogs/global-trade-2023-and-2024/ Thu, 05 Oct 2023 16:26:50 +0000 /?post_type=blogs&p=41120 The latest edition of the WTO’s “Global Trade Outlook and Statistics”, issued today, provides revised forecasts for global trade in 2023 and 2024. For 2023, we are downgrading our forecast...

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The latest edition of the WTO’s “Global Trade Outlook and Statistics”, issued today, provides revised forecasts for global trade in 2023 and 2024.

  • For 2023, we are downgrading our forecast for world merchandise trade volume growth to 0.8 per cent, less than half the 1.7 per cent growth we forecast last April.
  • However, the outlook for next year has not been downgraded and remains relatively strong. We predict 3.3 per cent trade growth in 2024, slightly higher than our estimate of 3.2 per cent in April.

So what has led to this revised forecast?

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The downgrade is not entirely surprising as we had already considered the risks to be mostly on the downside in our April forecast.

Several factors have contributed to this revision. The global economy has been grappling with rising inflation and high interest rates since the fourth quarter of 2022, particularly in the European Union and the United States.

While falling energy prices and the end of Chinese COVID-19 pandemic restrictions raised hopes of a quick rebound, strained property markets have prevented a stronger recovery from taking root in China. Added to these factors, the ongoing Ukraine conflict also continues to weigh on the global economy.

The trade slowdown in the first half of 2023 appears to have involved a large number of economies and a wide array of goods, specifically certain categories of manufactured goods such as iron and steel, office and telecom equipment, textiles and clothing, although sales of passenger vehicles have surged in 2023.

The stronger growth predicted for 2024 is likely to be driven by increased trade in goods closely linked to the business cycle, such as machinery and consumer durables, which tend to recover when economic growth stabilizes.

Figures for world GDP growth at market exchange rates, anticipated to be 2.6 per cent in 2023, show little change since the April forecast. However, shifts in the regional composition of growth could influence trade.

Specifically, GDP growth rates for North America in 2023 and 2024 have been revised upwards, from 1.5 per cent and 1.0 per cent, respectively, in April, to 2.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent in the current report. Meanwhile, estimates for Asia for 2023 and 2024 have been revised downwards, from 4.2 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively, in April, to 4.1 per cent and 4.0 per cent. European GDP growth in 2023 should come in at 1.0 per cent, up slightly from 0.9 per cent in the April forecast, while growth in 2024 should be 1.4 per cent, down from 1.8 per cent previously. Finally, output in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region is expected be stronger than previously forecast, both this year and next year.

In terms of imports, demand appears to be weakening in manufacturing economies, with import volumes in 2023 expected to contract by between 0.4 per cent and 1.2 per cent in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Meanwhile, imports appear set to rise sharply in regions that export fuels disproportionately, thanks to the increased revenues flowing from higher prices.

Effects of trade fragmentation on the global economy

Many people may be wondering how much of the current trade slowdown is due to trade fragmentation, possibly as a result of rising geopolitical tensions, and how much is due to tighter financial conditions as countries around the world raised interest rates to fight inflation. The report suggests that, while we do see initial signs of fragmentation, we do not see evidence of broad-based de-globalization.

For example, the share of intermediate goods in world trade, which provides an indication of the health and extent of global supply chains — a key indication of the extent of trade fragmentation — fell to 48.5 per cent in the first half of 2023, having averaged 51.0 per cent over the previous three years. While this suggests that supply chains may be contracting, it may also simply reflect higher commodity prices as these have a greater influence on the cost of intermediate goods than on final goods costs.

A possible indication of an increase in near-shoring is the recent decline in the share of Asian trading partners in US trade in parts and accessories, which is an important component of intermediate goods. However, while this share fell from 43 per cent in the first half of 2022 to 38 per cent in the first half of 2023, it remains close to the pre-pandemic (2019) share of 39 per cent.

Similarly, the share of politically like-minded trading partners (as measured by United Nations voting patterns) in US total trade recently rose to 77 per cent in the first half of 2023, from 74 per cent in the first half of 2022. Again, while this could signal increased friend-shoring, in fact the 2023 share is very close to the 2019 share of 77 per cent.

These findings are in line with the results we presented in the 2023 World Trade Report on 12 September 2023. While they do not yet suggest broad-based de-globalization, nevertheless, we will continue to monitor these trends carefully going forward.

 

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To read the full edition of the WTO’s “Global Trade Outlook and Statistics” which is referenced above, click here

To read the full blog by Ralph Ossa, click here.

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bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blogs/free-trade-agreements-prosperity/ Sun, 21 May 2023 22:23:52 +0000 /?post_type=blogs&p=37531 Free trade is the cornerstone of a competitive economy as it contributes to the prosperity of any nation and creates socioeconomic benefits. It also drives job creation and fosters a...

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Free trade is the cornerstone of a competitive economy as it contributes to the prosperity of any nation and creates socioeconomic benefits. It also drives job creation and fosters a more efficient and competitive industry. 

In the words of Benjamin Franklin: “No nation was ever ruined by trade, even seemingly the most disadvantageous.” 

Over the last decades, not only were nations not harmed by trade, but they have been reaping unimaginable benefits, which have transformed the standard of living and afforded them greater bodog online casino access to competitively priced goods.

The Arabian Gulf region is an important global trade hub that depends heavily on exporting oil derivates and raw materials to the world. After oil and gas, the chemical and petrochemicals industry is the second largest industry in the region and plays a vital role in the Gulf Cooperation Council economies. The value of chemical trade flow in the GCC reached $88.6 billion in 2021, with exports accounting for $68.6 billion: an increase of 56.5 percent in value in 2021 compared to the year before.

Off the back of this growth, chemical trade is emerging at the forefront of the regional agenda. In 2021, the region set a new record with its trade surplus reaching $53.7 billion (the highest since 2009).

Furthermore, growth in the GCC chemical industry translates into better job creation in the region. In 2021, the chemical sector accounted for 53,900 direct and 107,800 indirect jobs, and 48,500 induced jobs — or a total of 210,200 jobs.

While regional chemical trade has been buoyant over the last three years, opportunities to improve the chemical industry’s international trade position certainly exist. But to achieve this, the policymakers’ role is of paramount importance if we are to see growth in the share of free trade agreements and preferential trade agreements between the GCC and its trading partners. Such deals are increasingly being seen as beneficial to GCC’s economic growth as well as the sustainability of the regional chemical industry. From helping to raise living standards to attract foreign investment, fostering innovation in manufacturing, and connecting businesses with people, free trade deals have an unmatched potential to make industries more sustainable, improve revenues, generate more jobs for the local population, and facilitate the development of advanced technologies.

Free trade agreements will help the region’s downstream players to boost their innovation output and become more competitive globally. Robust provisions on intellectual property rights protection that potentially go beyond the standard protection envisaged in the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights would reduce costs of trading in IP-sensitive goods and promote innovation in sectors, such as the chemical industry. 

Free trade deals not only reduce and eliminate tariffs, but they also help to overcome behind-the-border barriers. As a result, companies can focus on producing and selling goods that best utilize their resources, while other businesses import scarce or locally unavailable goods and raw materials. It is a win-win situation for all. There is good news for local industries too. FTAs are proven to help small and medium-sized businesses to become more competitive and less reliant on government subsidies. Just imagine the sheer value that free trade agreements can unlock — for local communities, consumers, and the overall economy.

While it must be recognized that FTAs could reduce government revenues, which come from existing customs duties, this reduction in revenue would be offset by enabling GCC commodity exports to gain access to protected markets. Gaining access to new markets will in turn enhance the netback for regional exports and generate higher revenue for chemical firms, which are wholly owned by GCC governments.

The international trade landscape has been undergoing a series of tectonic shifts in the face of changing chemicals supply and demand centers, emerging economies claiming a larger share of international trade, world events, such as the war in Ukraine, supply chain challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic, and increasing protectionism.

So, what opportunities lie ahead for new FTAs? The GCC region has the highest intraregional trade share and intensity with China, India, and Turkiye. It has lower trade costs with this group of countries when compared with other economies. Consequently, free trade agreements with China, India, and Turkiye will prove to be beneficial.

If the GCC is signing or planning to sign such an agreement, it would be essential to know which goods are the most efficiently produced and select the most profitable sectors to maximize gains.

In a recent white paper issued by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association, we shared exclusive insights that can help policymakers evaluate the potential economic impact of a free trade agreement. It is a must-read for anyone looking to enhance their understanding of FTAs and their vital role in the chemical industry and the region.

To conclude, as we look to the next decades when the global population is projected to exceed 9 billion by 2050, demand for chemicals and agri-nutrients will continue to rise, creating unprecedented pressure on the industry to deliver its goods to an exploding global population. The GCC chemical industry has strong potential to benefit from the global increase in chemical demand, projected to double by 2050 and provide life-enhancing, safer, cheaper, and more durable chemical products to communities across the world.

To ensure we can successfully deliver on this objective, we need a robust and supportive local and international trade policy framework that helps to advance FTA negotiations which have been stalling for decades and addresses where and to what extent trade opportunities exist, while carefully evaluating the risks and downsides of a potential deal.

The chemical industry is vital to the smooth functioning, prosperity, and growth of the global economy and the GCC region. We, therefore, all share a responsibility to come together and cooperate in this new era of trade and reimagine what progress looks like today and into the future.

  • Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun is the secretary-general of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association.

To read the full blog, please click here.

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bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blogs/gender-gap-close-faster/ Tue, 16 May 2023 15:30:20 +0000 /?post_type=blogs&p=37222 While some gender gaps are closing, the pace of progress is too slow in trade. Reformers in government and business can show the way. In 2013, Connie Stacey had a...

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While some gender gaps are closing, the pace of progress is too slow in trade. Reformers in government and business can show the way.

In 2013, Connie Stacey had a business idea: to create a clean, green and quiet replacement for fossil-fuel-powered generators. Stacey, 48, had worked in information technology previously and thought she could use battery technology as an alternative to diesel or gasoline. Her version would be bigger than the batteries in mobile phones, require no technicians or engineers to use, and could be infinitely scalable. She built a prototype, named it the Grengine, and started a company called Growing Greener Innovations to build and market it.

Then came the challenges, first in terms of scaling her product and then delivering it to global markets. She ran into a barrier so many women entrepreneurs face: securing financing. As of 2022, only 2% of venture capital worldwide went to women-owned businesses, with most of those funding decisions made by men. Stacey’s challenges securing financing also underscored the soft discrimination some women face. “I had already built the prototype and there were people who asked me, ‘But who actually invented it?’”

Then there was the issue of bringing her product to the global market. Only 15% of businesses engaged in international trade are led by women, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Stacey finally found success in 2018, when she entered a contest sponsored by the US Department of Defense, where the innovations themselves were the main focus rather than the founders or their fundraising. Stacey won in the energy-efficiency and grid technologies category, and that gave her the momentum she needed. She won awards from 14 other organizations from 2018 to 2023, as well as contracts to supply the Grengine to clients ranging from Canada’s military to a mine in Saskatchewan and a golf resort in Wales.

Today, Stacey exports to six countries, which puts her in that small minority of women-led businesses engaged in international trade identified by the WTO.

Breaking down the gender gap

The imbalance in international trade is one of many inequalities that comprise a global gender gap that will take another 135 years to close at the current pace of policy reform, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The WEF breaks the gender gap into four areas. Two areas are considered almost completely closed: educational attainment, and health and survival. The other two gaps are more persistent: political empowerment, and economic participation and opportunity. Trade falls under the economic participation and opportunity gap. It’s a gap that impacts women as consumers, workers and entrepreneurs.

  • Consumers: Much has been written about the “pink tax,” or the retail premium women sometimes pay to buy a pink razor rather than a blue one. But this trade-oriented phenomenon goes deeper. According to a 2020 study published in the journal American Political Science Review covering two decades’ worth of tariffs on men’s and women’s apparel in 167 countries, imports of women’s goods were taxed 0.7% more than imports of men’s goods. In the US, tariffs add about 75 cents to the cost of men’s underwear, and US$1.10 to a pair for women.
  • Workers: In developing countries, women and men vie for formal employment with a company that is integrated into global value chains as it offers greater rewards and fewer risks than most other jobs. According to the World Bank, two-thirds of these positions go to men.
  • Entrepreneurs: Women struggle to gain the professional recognition they deserve. They also face challenges such as access to finance, balancing career aspirations with domestic responsibilities, and bribe demands or unwanted sexual encounters as they seek the necessary permits and paperwork.

The persistent gender gaps in trade, economics and politics are related: at the WTO, only 36% of ambassadors and 30% of ministers in charge of WTO affairs are women. To address the obstacles in trade, there need to be more women in these leadership roles.

Fixing the gender gap in trade is slowly gaining traction

The good news is that correcting the global gender gap in trade is beginning to gain traction among policymakers. However, it should also be on the radar for trade functions of businesses. Applying better gender-based data to strategies for businesses and for trade would have significant benefits in identifying barriers to women’s access to markets. Turning a sharper lens on gender issues could also help to scale up women-owned small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), adding long-term value to their organizations.

Governments more frequently address the gender gap in bilateral free-trade agreements (FTAs), in language evolving from aspirational to enforceable. Additionally, more governments now consider the gender impacts of all policies and processes, in a methodology called gender mainstreaming.

Governments have also identified a data deficit as an obstacle to closing the gender gap. When they collect data about businesses, more statisticians are asking gender-specific questions, expecting that more data will lead to better policy.

As more states consider practical steps available to accelerate change, some regions have taken leading roles. In North America, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa, the overall gender gap is likely to close within 100 years. But in the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, and South Asia, it will take anywhere from 115 to 197 years, according to the WEF.

What all these leaders and laggards have in common, however, is that the pace of change is far too slow. If the global community is serious about this goal, the scope of its collective actions must match the scale of the problem.

The data on gender and trade are clear – for individual businesses and for whole economies.

Economically, closing the gender gap in trade would create up to US$12 trillion in GDP by 2025, according to a study by the Washington DC-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. In the UK, an independent study commissioned by the government, the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship, found that if women started small businesses at the same rate as men, they would add another US$307.7 billion to the British economy – a 9.8% bump to 2021’s GDP of US$3.13 trillion.

The case for businesses is also clear. According to a 2021 study by Credit Suisse, companies with more than a 20% diversity threshold have enjoyed better EBITDA margins (higher by 1.6 percentage points) on average since 2010 compared with companies with a lower than 15% bodog sportsbook review diversity threshold. Moreover, firms with higher levels of diversity, whether in management or the boardroom, have higher share price returns than companies with lower diversity levels. Comparing businesses with an above-average share of women on the board and in management to those with below-average shares (9.7% and 6.8%, respectively), the disparity in returns is roughly 300 basis points.

Diversity improves performance

A lack of diversity among venture-capital funders also helps explain why female entrepreneurs fall through the cracks. The Rose Review found that less than 1% of UK venture capital funding goes to all-female teams of entrepreneurs. This is similar to the global total, which has hovered between 2% and 3% in recent years. In the US, women account for only 5.7% of VC partners. These gendered results for venture capital persist despite a growing body of evidence that women make great leaders of start-ups: venture-backed technology companies run by women deliver higher revenue and a greater return on equity, for example.

These lessons are critical for global businesses looking to align with efforts to close the gender trade gap by ensuring they have inclusive representation in their own trade functions.

“Any kind of diversity improves your performance,” says Rocio Mejia, EY Global Trade and Indirect Tax Leader for Latin America North. “Having women in top roles provides different points of view. It’s always a combination of ideas that companies tend to follow, so it is better to have more ideas than fewer.” Companies that are inclusive are 1.7 times more likely to be leaders in innovation.

In May 2022, the United Kingdom and Mexico kicked off negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement. The signing ceremony was held in London’s Soho district, at the new headquarters of Diageo Plc. The largest distiller of Scotch whisky is also a major tequila producer, and recently announced a US$500 million investment in new production facilities in Jalisco, the Mexican state home to the blue agave plant used to make the drink.

When the time came for the countries’ trade ministers to shake hands and smile for the cameras, there were two women in the frame: Tatiana Clouthier, Mexico’s then Secretary of Economy, and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the UK’s then Secretary of State for International Trade.

That two women would interact in such a high-profile negotiation was unusual because few women hold leadership positions that oversee international trade. As of January 1, 2023, women represented only 22.8% of government Cabinet ministers, and they typically headed ministries other than the high-profile ones that oversee trade policy, such as a ministry of finance, trade and investment; economic development; or foreign affairs. The five most commonly held roles for female ministers focus on issues concerning family, children, youth, the elderly and the disabled.

“When there are more females in those powerful positions, there is a greater emphasis on women’s issues and a natural understanding of the challenges they face,” says Ian Craig, EY Latin America South Global Trade Leader.

Chile takes a leading role

When Michelle Bachelet won a second term as president of Chile in 2014, she made gender equality gaps a focus. FTAs had rarely mentioned gender as an issue, and when they did so it was typically in an aspirational introductory passage rather than in the binding language of the body of the document. But Bachelet’s trade negotiators had already teamed up with some like-minded peers to push against that boundary. In 2016, Chile and Uruguay introduced the first FTA with a chapter covering gender issues. It contained general passages declaring the importance of ending discrimination against women, calling for considering gender in trade policy, and flagging trade as a way to equalize opportunity.

The two parties also declared an intention to cooperate on programs to help women build skills and networks, and to create labor market conditions that encourage female participation in job markets. Moreover, they established a gender committee to facilitate those objectives. However, these pro-equality moves are voluntary. The text clarifies that the dispute-settlement mechanism does not apply to the gender chapter.

Chile’s next generation of FTAs went further, with two treaties effective as of 2019 with Canada and Argentina. Chilean and Canadian negotiators included reminders in their bilateral FTA of other international agreements the two countries had signed, including the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The Argentina-Chile deal referenced CEDAW as well as several conventions of the International Labour Organization, which mandate equality in remuneration and opportunity, and address discrimination and other gender-based workplace issues.

Canada sets the bar higher

A Canadian FTA with Israel announced in 2019 raised the bar even higher. Canada and Israel negotiated an update to their existing FTA and specified in the gender chapter that its content is subject to the FTA’s binding resolution method. Further, instead of confining gender issues to the gender chapter, they are also addressed in the preamble of the FTA and in its labor chapter.

As an aside, it’s interesting to note that Canada’s Minister of Finance, Minister of International Trade and Minister of Foreign Affairs are currently all women.

It’s still too early to measure the progress we’re seeing

As of December 2020, an updated thorough assessment of 577 RTAs found that 83 of them had at least one provision directly referencing gender or women. This includes 305 agreements that are now in force and have been disclosed to the WTO. When provisions referring to implicit gender issues, such as human rights, the social dimension of sustainable development, and vulnerable groups are included, the total number of agreements rises to 257.

While this may be seen as progress, it’s too soon to expect measurable benefits, says Hong Kong-based Kareena Teh, Partner at LC Lawyers LLP (a member of the global EY network), who deals in disputes. “The dispute settle mechanism of the Canada-Israel FTA has yet to be tested with a gender-issues case. And FTA dispute mechanisms are just one path to narrowing the gender gap,” Teh says.

“If we take a carrot-and-stick approach, dispute settlement mechanisms are the stick,” Teh explains. “But FTAs could also include incentives to meet certain gender targets, which could be an easier way of achieving the same end.” Dispute settlement mechanisms could be difficult to apply because they are often oriented toward financial payments as settlements, and it is difficult to quantify damages payable for gender-based complaints.

Trade negotiators could also further improve FTAs through a process called gender mainstreaming. In public policy, this is a whole-of-government approach in which the responsibility to consider, analyze and address gender issues falls to more than just gender specialists. All activities must be screened for gender impacts before proceeding, including laws, regulations, government programs and research. For FTAs, gender mainstreaming would mean abandoning the approach of collecting gender-based issues and stipulations in a gender chapter, and instead ensuring that gender considerations are addressed in every chapter. This approach would leave room for both carrots and sticks, Teh says.

FTAs are an understandable focus for governments aiming to close the gender gap in trade. But trade policy isn’t the only path to progress. Practical responses to the problem can come from domestic laws and regulations, as well as from international organizations, the private sector and civil society. They include approaches such as establishing minimum standards, gender mainstreaming, training and oversight programs and incentive programs.

Many of the programs women can access are designed to tackle three main challenges they face as entrepreneurs: access to finance, mobility and information.

For the WTO, the international body most relevant to the challenge, a push for change coalesced into action at the 11th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in 2017. Talks there led to 127 countries signing on to the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, which aims to boost involvement in trade for women and to ensure they benefit from the activity. This led to an informal WTO working group that meets regularly (there are five meetings in 2023), as well as a Gender Research Hub, which has been collecting data on gender-related trade matters ever since and hosts the World Trade Congress on Gender every two years in Geneva. Their latest report, issued in 2022, focused on cross-border trade in the pre- and post-pandemic environment.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), meanwhile, offers the Trade and Gender Toolbox, which national policymakers can use to forecast how new trade policy proposals would impact women.

The UN and WTO also collaborate through the International Trade Center. Its SheTrades program offers a platform for women in business to network and support each other, and for buyers to find products and services offered by women. The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development’s Global Trade and Gender Arrangement (GTAGA) commits signatory countries to promote trade policies that empower women and remove the barriers they face. At the World Bank, programming includes the Women, Business, and the Law initiative, which evaluates countries’ laws and regulations in hopes of triggering policy discussions that lead to the removal of legal restrictions on women aiming to export and import.

The World Bank and other multilateral or bilateral development banks and aid providers can play a dual role. In addition to providing programming to promote minimum standards or providing research, they can help close trade’s gender gap through their own decision-making processes on the loans and grants they offer. Most already require environmental and social impact assessments and environmental and social management plans for projects they finance. UNCTAD recommends 12 main ingredients for a management plan, one of which addresses gender concerns in labor.

Governments should seize opportunities to improve women’s access to finance, mobility and information

Outside of trade agreements, there are several opportunities governments can take advantage of to improve women’s access to finance, mobility and information.

  • Enforce standards. Governments can enforce standards through their procurement processes. Laws and rules can establish that winners of government contracts must commit to specific conditions, such as providing opportunities to qualified women-led subcontractors. Currently, impact assessments and procurement rules are often treated as “box-ticking exercises” in which investors do the bare minimum required to win approval, according to a World Bank report.
  • Tailor training and facilitation resources to women. Training and facilitation programs often focus on the main challenges women face as entrepreneurs. They are available from in-country export-promotion agencies, from development banks, government agencies, or civil society groups. Tailoring these resources to women specifically and offering them in a women-only setting can help eliminate the possibility of discrimination, as in many cases the people running these programs are men.
  • Consider culture and local norms when devising mobility solutions. The mobility problem is often rooted in local conditions and cultures, says Taramani Agarwal, a Dehli-based Public Policy Development Manager at EY Global Delivery Services India LLP. In many parts of the world women cannot simply pack up their goods and travel to another country to sell or arrange for shipping. People in remote settings may lack affordable transportation. Husbands might prefer their wives stay close to home to look after children. Women could face discrimination or unwanted sexual advances at any point in any business trip: to a market, supplier, bank or shipping point. Joining digital platforms may be a solution in the future because work can be done from home, but research thus far on their gender impacts is unclear. A local solution in Northeast India involved small, stall-based markets near India’s international borders, Agarwal says. This marketplace model of “boarder haats” [sic] is not exclusive to women. However, given the suitable conditions to trade products at the border markets, local women are able to make money for their bodog online casino sustainable livelihood. “We found that customs officers and trade officials needed to be gender-sensitive for this to work,” says Agarwal, who was then employed by a non-governmental organization working to facilitate trade. Her team recommended gender training for customs officials, freight forwarders and others involved in the process, as well as addressing the setting. The border-haat concept comes with a bonus for tax authorities – it reduces informal trade and offers an opportunity to connect with entrepreneurs and encourage them to register their businesses and pay taxes. Offer gender-exclusive opportunities to access information. Jesmina Zeliang, who is from India’s remote Nagaland state, and is the founder of a home décor and textiles business that sells goods to global retailers such as Crate & Barrel and Christian Louboutin, realized she needed help when growth had slowed and buyers had stopped calling. Zeliang started with programs for developing-country entrepreneurs offered by the Delhi-based Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts and the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank. She evaluated her business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and studied export marketing. She learned to target markets by understanding common color choices for home decoration in different countries and developing a pitch more sophisticated than carrying samples and knocking on doors. She added international contacts to her professional network and soon built relationships into contracts. She’s now on the board of the Export Promotion Council as its sole female member. Zeliang took advantage of many of the same types of support that men also find valuable: training, networking and joining trade associations or local chambers of commerce. The groups and programs Zeliang used weren’t tailored to women specifically. But there may be value in gender-exclusive versions.
  • Develop models that speak to women. Vicki Saunders runs a non-profit crowdfunding platform called Coralus International. She raises funds for women entrepreneurs using a values-driven approach. Those donors are then entitled to vote on proposals from female entrepreneurs, and the winners receive a five-year loan worth US$100,000 in the local currency at zero interest. Coralus operates in Canada, the US, New Zealand, Australia and the UK. She has thus far raised about US$14 million and funded 146 ventures. “Our model has little to do with women specifically beyond that you have to be one to participate,” Saunders says. Saunders’ platform also addresses the ways in which women network and interact in professional communities, as well as the gap in finance. The entrepreneurs she backs participate in regular sessions, typically over video platforms. “People take turns talking about their products and services,” Saunders says. “Often, they hadn’t been thinking of exporting, but suddenly they’re able to tap international markets because someone else on the call knows a local distributor. It’s tough to build a business on your own, but it becomes so much easier when you get people together in the same room. We’re focused on relationships and not transactions.”

Where trade was once considered a gender-neutral activity, it is now understood to have gendered impacts. The 2017 Buenos Aires Declaration identifies improved data collection as a way to fix that.

“We need data disaggregated by sex so we know how different policies impact men differently than women,” Teh says.

According to the OECD, policymakers should collect data for indicators such as the ratio of women’s to men’s income in comparable trade-based economic sectors or value chains, the percentage of women in higher-paid positions across sectors or value-chain segments, the ratio of women and men enrolled in trade-specific capacity-building training programs, and the number of procurement contracts awarded as a result of the increased certification of women-owned businesses.

A data-centric approach has worked to measure and close other kinds of gender gaps, according to the WEF. Since 2006, for example, the report has measured the ratio of males to females enrolled in secondary education. Disseminating that data led to 184 countries adopting a monitoring framework to ensure inclusion, and education became one of the two main gender gaps the WEF considers almost completely closed.

Conclusions across countries about how trade policy impacts women can be difficult, however, because countries collect that data in different ways, according to UNCTAD. One way to address this would be greater harmonization in the ways governments conduct surveys and other data-gathering exercises, to make data easier to compare across countries.

Disaggregating data by gender has also improved the private sector’s understanding of how women experience their goods and services. For the automotive industry, gender-specific data on vehicle crashes has helped to reveal that women are 47% more likely to suffer injury and 17% more likely to die because the crash-test dummies used in safety assessments mimic the bodies of men only instead of both genders. In financial services, data have shown that women are more likely to seek a new investment advisor when their spouse dies because advisors have worked in the past to develop a relationship with the husband only.

Although governments are the logical starting point for improving the data available to policymakers, they can’t do it alone – particularly in bigger countries, where relevant agencies may not have the resources to collect statistically significant data samples, especially in remote regions.

International organizations also play a role in data gathering and analysis. In recent years, several organizations have studied digital-commerce platforms and how their impact differs on male and female entrepreneurs, with mixed results. In Indonesia, a United Nations study found that 54% of women-owned microbusinesses use the internet to sell their products, compared with 39% of those that are men-owned. Using survey data from the Indonesian government, the study found that about 40% of micro and small businesses led by women used digital platforms to expand their businesses, compared with about 10% less for those led by men. However, in the Philippines, the Asian Development Bank found that women are more likely to use platforms, but that men who use digital platforms in similar ways are more likely to earn more.

Another solution to address the data gap, while showing where the structural barriers to trade for women persist, is the SheTrades Outlook developed by the International Trade Center. This evidenced-based policy tool helps to identify policies, laws or programs that contribute or prevent women’s participation in the economy and trade. The SheTrades Outlook covers 55 indicators grouped under six interlinked pillars. It also has a repository of over 100 good practices on women’s economic empowerment around the world.

It’s early in the quest to understand the lasting impacts of digital platforms, just as it’s too soon to gauge the effectiveness of gender provisions in FTAs. The hunt for data will continue. “If you want gender-sensitive data, you need to ask gender-sensitive questions,” Teh warns.

This makes statistics collection similar to FTAs, representation in senior government roles and barriers to access. To improve gender-neutral outcomes, all stakeholders involved need to create opportunities for women to participate, lead and influence the process.

Gender parity is central to conversations among businesses that are increasingly focused on social and environmental issues. However, businesses need to translate rhetoric about progress into meaningful action that has a lasting impact.

For organizations that are serious about gender-parity in global trade, here are three ways they can help close the gender gap.

  1. Lobby governments to forge stronger ties among domestic policy, trade and strategic goals. Organizations can lobby governments to not only acknowledge the importance of incorporating a gender perspective into strategic goals around inclusive economic growth, but also to develop and enact meaningful policies that mandate action – using carrot, stick, or both.
  2. Lead by example by placing more women in key decision-making roles. As we’ve noted, the data is clear that governments develop better policies toward closing the gender gap when women are in senior decision-making roles. And businesses are more profitable. Organizations that prioritize diversity in their boards and senior leadership positions – and especially positions that have an impact on international trade – can do more than boost their bottom line. In leading by example, they can demonstrate to governments and policymakers that more women in roles that can accelerate the closure of the gender gap in trade becomes a win-win for everyone.
  3. Create a trade function within your organization that recognizes the value women-led businesses can bring to global markets. In a more disrupted international trade environment, organizations would benefit from setting up a trade function. In addition to exploring new markets, finding suitable partners and developing a framework for trade compliance in the jurisdictions in which you operate, this trade function can establish policies that prioritize partnerships and alliances with women-led businesses. Such policies would strengthen your ecosystem and help women-led businesses maximize their potential in global markets.

Closing the gender gap in international trade shouldn’t take 135.6 years. With governments, policymakers, non-governmental organizations, and corporations working together to break down the barriers that women-led businesses face, gender-parity in international trade could be a reality within the next decade. That’s a goal worth realizing.

To read the full article, please click here.

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bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blogs/ira-and-free-trade/ Mon, 06 Feb 2023 21:19:08 +0000 /?post_type=blogs&p=36352 Peter S. Rashish will moderate WITA’s upcoming event, We’ve Got a Deal for You! The U.S.-EU Mini Trade Negotiation.  The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) approved by the U.S. Congress last...

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Peter S. Rashish will moderate WITA’s upcoming event, We’ve Got a Deal for You! The U.S.-EU Mini Trade Negotiation. 

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) approved by the U.S. Congress last August continues to provoke transatlantic frictions. The European Union has welcomed the climate investments in the IRA that will help the United States meet its net-zero commitments under the Paris Agreement. It is concerned, however, that the local content provisions in the bill’s $369 billion in subsidies for electric vehicle (EV) purchases not only violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules but also favor U.S.-based producers and suppliers.

The Biden administration is not protectionist, and it does not advocate a law of the jungle international economic order where might makes right. But in the effort last summer to pass the IRA before the mid-term elections, the political attraction of a bill that combined measures to combat climate change, create jobs, and push back against Chinese dominance of EV supply chains—a powerful trifecta—may have led to less attention being paid to its implications for key U.S. trading partners.

The administration has already taken steps to assuage European concerns. At the end of December, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued updated guidance clarifying that U.S. consumers who lease (rather than purchase) imported European electric vehicles will be able to take advantage of the $7,500 in tax credits the IRA provides for “commercial vehicles,” which do not have to meet the stringent North American (United States, Canada, Mexico) requirements for the supply of battery components and critical minerals and as a location of final assembly.

By next month the department has also indicated that it will clarify one key aspect of the IRA with bearing on imports from the European Union, Japan, the UK, and other foreign automobile producers: the language in the bill that exempts imports of EV critical minerals from the North American origin rules if they come from countries with which the United States has a “free trade agreement.”

The treasury department has already pointed out that “the term ‘free trade agreement’ is not defined in the Inflation Reduction Act (or in any other statute).” That flexibility suggests there should be room to take steps to further reduce transatlantic tensions. One option could be to negotiate a new, plurilateral critical minerals or raw bodog casino materials agreement among the United States, the European Union, and other economies. Such sectoral deals are normally allowed under WTO rules. Another approach would be to apply the term “free trade agreement” to the 48-member WTO Government Procurement Agreement that includes the EU and other key U.S. trading partners.

A third option would involve taking a more expansive view of what can and should lead to increased trade.

While the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) launched in 2021 does not include new, de jure market access commitments through tariff reductions, it does commit the two sides to “promote U.S. and EU competitiveness and prosperity and the spread of democratic, market-oriented values.”

If the TTC can achieve its specific objectives—among them, strengthening transatlantic supply chains, forging common rules for artificial intelligence, and creating joint approaches to sustainable trade and decarbonization—it will lead de facto to more trade across the Atlantic. The end results of the TTC and a traditional free trade agreement (for example, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership launched in 2013 but never concluded) would then be similar, even if the means differ.

In a shifting global environment where trade policy is rightly becoming focused not just on economic growth but also on values and security (protecting the climate, reducing economic dependence on China) a new gauge for what defines a close trading partner, one less dependent on tariff reductions, is needed. While it may be premature for the IRA to grant the U.S-EU Trade and Technology Council the status of a “free trade agreement,” that term would benefit from a rethink to adapt it to the times.

Peter S. Rashish, Vice President; Director, Geoeconomics Program

To read the full article, click here

 

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bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blogs/unlocking-africas-economic-potential/ Fri, 23 Sep 2022 19:02:47 +0000 /?post_type=blogs&p=35278 Fostering intra-African integration and removing trade barriers will be critical to Africa’s coming economic transformation. Two agreements, in particular, promise to lower production costs, create new value chains, boost domestic...

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Fostering intra-African integration and removing trade barriers will be critical to Africa’s coming economic transformation. Two agreements, in particular, promise to lower production costs, create new value chains, boost domestic demand, and attract global investment.

WASHINGTON, DC – Africa is on the cusp of an economic transformation. By 2050, consumer and business spending on the continent is expected to reach roughly $16.1 trillion. The coming boom offers tremendous opportunities for global businesses – especially US companies looking for new markets. But unless African policymakers remove existing barriers to regional trade and investment, the continent’s economy will struggle to reach its true potential.

Two major trade agreements – the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) – will make it easier for African countries to trade with one another, and with the United States. Together, the agreements promise to remove longstanding impediments to industrialization.

AGOA, passed by the US Congress in 2000, gives countries in Sub-Saharan Africa preferential trade access, allowing them to export tariff-free products to the US. Although it will expire in 2025, US President Joe Biden’s Sub-Saharan Africa strategy, unveiled in August, highlights its positive impact and promises to work with Congress on ways to proceed after AGOA lapses.

AfCFTA, on the other hand, is an intra-African trade agreement with no expiration date. Established in 2018, its goal is to deepen trade ties between African countries by removing tariff and non-tariff barriers.

Although these agreements’ scope, focus, beneficiaries, and structure differ significantly from each other, they are essential to strengthening African regional integration. Rather than viewing them as separate or competing agreements, policymakers and investors should recognize how they can complement each other in creating, sustaining, and transforming value chains across the continent.

Value creation is critical to Africa’s economic transformation. In 2014, manufactured goods accounted for about 41.9% of the trade between African countries, compared to 14.8% of their exports to the rest of the world. Greater regional integration will provide Africa with a larger supply market, which will accelerate manufacturing specialization and make African producers more competitive globally. More robust manufacturing industries will provide jobs for low-skilled workers – particularly those not currently integrated into the formal economy. This, in turn, will increase average household incomes, boost domestic demand, spur innovation and diversification, and help protect local economies against external shocks.

AGOA has already created some opportunities for cross-border value chains. Yet despite some success stories like Madagascar’s apparel industry, which relies on an extensive regional supply chain, such opportunities remain limited. While integration has improved since AGOA’s implementation, particularly since 2015, it remains somewhat superficial: less than 17% of Africa’s commercial value is currently generated through intra-African trade.

The real game changer is the AfCFTA. By removing tariffs for a wide range of products across the continent, it will lower production costs and shift foreign direct investment toward manufactured goods, while also reducing transit costs and shortening supply chains – major benefits in a globalized economy.

The International Monetary Fund projects that, under the AfCFTA, Africa’s expanded goods and labor markets will become more efficient, driving a significant increase in African countries’ competitiveness. By creating a true continental market that increases intra-African trade and impels African countries to participate in “production sharing” at a higher rate, the AfCFTA will likely provide a further incentive to US-based multinationals, which will be able to access a larger market and establish a major global hub. AGOA has already spurred many companies to invest in Africa, and the successful implementation of the AfCFTA will strengthen this trend.

The challenge for policymakers is to accelerate this process and ensure that the two programs complement each other. One way to do this is to deepen and broaden communication channels between Africa and the US, making it easier for investors interested in doing business in Africa to be better prepared for the expected growth in demand for regionally-sourced products. Supporting individual countries in implementing the AfCFTA would also help streamline the process.

A key problem that remains to be addressed is AGOA’s eligibility criteria, which are set on a country-by-country basis. These criteria can be detrimental to regional integration, as one country’s removal could affect another country’s supply inputs, thereby creating a ripple effect. For example, when Madagascar was removed from the AGOA-eligible list in 2010 following a coup d’état, the five African countries from which it had been sourcing apparel inputs were also punished. Considering the broader effect of country-specific sanctions will help prevent unintended investor risk.

Effective regional integration is essential for Africa. Without it, the continent will continue to be overlooked and outpaced globally in manufacturing, information technologies, and agriculture. When considering the future configuration of both AGOA and the AfCFTA, policymakers should regard them as complementary mechanisms for ensuring Africa’s long-term economic development.

Landry Signé is a professor and managing director at Thunderbird School of Global Management and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

To read the full piece, please click here.

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bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blogs/us-china-technological-decoupling/ Fri, 22 Jul 2022 16:10:49 +0000 /?post_type=blogs&p=34321 During the first two decades of the twenty-first century, China has risen to world prominence as an international economic power. Building on the miraculous growth driven by investment and production...

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During the first two decades of the twenty-first century, China has risen to world prominence as an international economic power. Building on the miraculous growth driven by investment and production that stemmed from its “open-door” reforms starting in 1978, China completely transformed its economy and has increasingly challenged the United States’ global economic dominance. In 2010, China became the world’s top manufacturing nation, ending a 110-year U.S. lead. In 2014, China replaced the U.S. as the world’s largest economy by purchasing power parity. And in 2019, China demonstrated its immense research and development gains by becoming the nation to file the largest number of international patent applications at the World Intellectual Property Organization.

However, China’s rise to economic stardom could not have been achieved without its heavy integration with the technologically developed world, particularly the United States. When it comes to international trade, science and technology can cross national borders much easier than goods or people. International cooperation can play a large role in propelling technological advancement forward. Within the last three decades, internet protocols, hardware design and manufacturing, software development, and IT standards have evolved within a global system, with countries relying on each other for shared knowledge and techniques. As such, both China and the United States’ technological development fields have benefited greatly from global interdependence. 

However, in recent years, the possibility of the United States and China’s economic “decoupling” has become a hotly debated topic among scholars and the media. Their decoupling refers to the “deliberate dismantling—and eventual re-creation elsewhere—of some of the sprawling cross-border supply chains that have defined globalization and especially the U.S.-China relationship in recent decades.” While decoupling is becoming an increasingly popular path, political desires to decouple must not lead to rash decision-making. After years of interdependence, decoupling the two most powerful nations has serious implications, not only for the future of technological development, but for the broader objectives of global cooperation.

 

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Despite the term becoming an increasingly used buzzword in international economic discussions, decoupling in our globalized world has not been an easy phenomenon to measure. According to research conducted by faculty at the Columbia Business School, one new innovative method to determine decoupling is by focusing on patent technology between the two nations. By using the propensity for “domestic patents in a technology area to cite foreign patents relative to citing their own,” researchers created a measure that indicates the degree of technological decoupling between the U.S. and China. Specifically, the research focuses on three historical “screenshots”—2000, the year before China’s entry to the WTO; 2009, the end of the Great Recession; and 2019, the end of the sample period, which coincides with open attempts of decoupling. By using these three periods of time, researchers were able to chart the development of decoupling over the last two decades as economic rivalry heightened between the two nations.

After integrating comprehensive patent data from the U.S. and China, the study finds that overall, technology integration between both countries steadily increased throughout the first two decades of the 21st century. As expected, during this period, China also exhibited more dependence on U.S. technology than the U.S did on Chinese technology; after joining the WTO and integrating with world markets, China naturally relied heavily on U.S. innovation to aid its growth and development. Interestingly, however, while China’s dependence on the U.S. increased during the first decade studied, its technological integration with the U.S. decreased since the end of the Great Recession. In other words, the propensity for new Chinese patents to cite U.S. technology steadily decreased in the last decade, marking a significant change in the relationship between the two nations.

 

Understanding These Trends

This research provides a good baseline for how technological decoupling is unfolding between the U.S. and China, and the trends can be applied to predict the future relationship between the two nations. While the unprecedented interdependence between the U.S. and China throughout the last two decades cannot be quickly nor easily ended, the raw patent data reveals one clear indication: technological decoupling has already begun. And because of the intensifying bodog sportsbook review state of economic and geopolitical rivalry both nations find themselves in today, this decoupling will likely gain momentum in the years to come. 

As a growing mutual distrust has colored national attitudes in recent years, decoupling is increasingly viewed as a politically favorable path in both the United States and China. Despite their many differences, both Trump and Biden campaigned on a desire for the United States to decouple from China by decreasing the U.S.’s dependence on Chinese products and supply chains. The COVID-19 pandemic has also heightened domestic political rhetoric on decoupling from China and greatly influenced public opinion about the U.S.’ relationship with the nation. An early 2020 poll on attitudes towards China found that 75% of Americans believe the U.S. should end its dependence on China, specifically when it comes to Chinese medical technologies and exports. Moreover, when asked whether they agreed that the U.S.-China trade relationship should change in a post-pandemic world, 72% of respondents agreed, indicating that an overwhelming majority of the U.S. population holds a negative attitude toward integration with China.

Although China benefited immensely from the economic integration with the U.S., which characterized its rise to economic stardom, China now seeks to decrease its dependence on foreign countries for critical technologies and products. From the Chinese perspective, the government considers decoupling from the U.S. as a potential means to achieve greater independence from the West.  For the U.S., decoupling from China focuses primarily on discouraging Chinese imports in order to safeguard American jobs and national security. For China, however, decoupling serves a broader objective: it marks a shift in China’s strategic focus from one of economic growth to one of economic control. By decreasing its reliance on foreign technologies, China seeks to promote domestic dominance of Chinese firms and leverage this dominance into global competitiveness, thereby becoming a more independent and powerful economic hegemon. 

Ultimately, we know that innovation decoupling has already begun, and because of both nations’ political atmospheres, we can predict that these trends will continue to gain momentum. Although there is a growing political desire within both countries to decrease dependence on each other in this new age of international competition, the immense consequences of innovation decoupling between two world superpowers must be thoroughly considered before it is too late.

 

Implications for the Future

International cooperation is paramount to properly address the global issues the world faces. However, technological decoupling inhibits the necessary cooperation and integration required to combat challenges that transcend national boundaries. International issues, like the climate crisis and future pandemics, require that the U.S. and China share knowledge, technologies, and innovation with each other in order to be better equipped to solve them. 

While there is a natural tendency for nations to decouple on security technologies, there are pervasive consequences when technological decoupling escalates to a point beyond these conventional boundaries. As political tensions rise between the U.S. and China, complete innovation decoupling becomes more and more of a possibility. Technological decoupling in fields such as microchips and semiconductors could set the stage for decoupling in fields such as green technology or antiviral medications. The implications of decoupling and the rhetoric that surrounds it are far-reaching, and when it comes to the U.S. and China’s cooperation on climate change, we have already begun to see its effects.

A decade ago, the cooperation between the U.S. and China was a primary driver for global efforts to combat the climate crisis. The two nations funded joint research projects, shared best practices with regulators and academics, and most notably, made a joint public pledge to “work constructively together for the common good.” Since then, the world has changed significantly. Rhetoric on decoupling has grown. Both nations have become steeped in suspicion of each other’s intentions. And given that technological decoupling has already begun, it is no wonder why this cooperation is gone.

The implications of complete innovation decoupling between the U.S. and China must not be ignored. There is too much at stake. The solutions to adequately addressing global crises rely on changing the existing trajectory of decoupling between the world’s strongest two economies, before it is too late. As the world descends into intense economic and geopolitical conflict, technological development is one area where international cooperation must not be forsaken for rash politics. 

Nicolas Lama (CC ‘24) is a Senior Editor at CPR and a sophomore studying Political Science, Economics, and East Asian Languages and Cultures. At the Columbia Business School, Nicolas is an undergraduate research fellow, where he conducts research on the economic and political intersections between the United States and China. He was awarded the Critical Language Scholarship to study Mandarin this summer at the Changchun Humanities and Sciences College through the U.S. State Department with the goal of fostering more future mutual understanding between the two nations.

To read the full commentary by the Columbia Political Review, please click here.

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bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blogs/solve-our-supply-chain-crisis/ Fri, 29 Oct 2021 16:14:47 +0000 /?post_type=blogs&p=30813 Under this plan, officials at the Department of Commerce and the Department of Defense will identify goods and inputs they determine to be critical for our national security and essential...

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Under this plan, officials at the Department of Commerce and the Department of Defense will identify goods and inputs they determine to be critical for our national security and essential for the protection of our industrial base. These goods would then become subject to a new local content requirement: if companies want access to the American market for these critical and essential goods, then over 50 percent of the value of those goods they sell in America must be made in America. Companies will have three years to comply, and can receive targeted, temporary waivers if they need more time to reshore production. In effect, the legislation applies the domestic sourcing principles of the Buy American Act — a law that governs federal government procurement — to the entire commercial market.

Local content requirements can help reverse our dependence on foreign nations both by discouraging multinational corporations from relying on fragile global supply chains, and also encouraging them instead to build productive capacity in the United States. They will increase certainty by reducing the likelihood of shortages and scarcity and the price swings like we see today. With this approach, we can exchange volatility for stability in our markets, and industrial decay for industrial strength.

To read the full commentary on the New York Times, please click here.

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bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blogs/worlds-growth-divide-widens/ Tue, 12 Oct 2021 18:46:54 +0000 /?post_type=blogs&p=30676 As the world economy struggles to find its footing, the resurgence of the coronavirus and supply chain chokeholds threaten to hold back the global recovery’s momentum, a closely watched report...

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As the world economy struggles to find its footing, the resurgence of the coronavirus and supply chain chokeholds threaten to hold back the global recovery’s momentum, a closely watched report warned on Tuesday.

The overall growth rate will remain near 6 percent this year, a historically high level after a recession, but the expansion reflects a vast divergence in the fortunes of rich and poor countries, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest World Economic Outlook report.

Worldwide poverty, hunger and unmanageable debt are all on the upswing. Employment has fallen, especially for women, reversing many of the gains they made in recent years.

Uneven access to vaccines and health care is at the heart of the economic disparities. While booster shots are becoming available in some wealthier nations, a staggering 96 percent of people in low-income countries are still unvaccinated.

“Recent developments have made it abundantly clear that we are all in this together and the pandemic is not over anywhere until it is over everywhere,” Gita Gopinath, the I.M.F.’s chief economist, wrote in the report.

The outlook for the United States, Europe and other advanced economies has also darkened. Factories hobbled by pandemic-related restrictions and bottlenecks at key ports around the world have caused crippling supply shortages. A lack of workers in many industries is contributing to the clogs. The U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday that a record 4.3 million workers quit their jobs in August — to take or seek new jobs, or to leave the work force.

In the United States, weakening consumption and large declines in inventory caused the I.M.F. to pare back its growth projections to 6 percent from the 7 percent estimated in July. In Germany, manufacturing output has taken a hit because key commodities are hard to find. And lockdown measures over the summer have dampened growth in Japan.

Fear of rising inflation — even if likely to be temporary — is growing. Prices are climbing for food, medicine and oil as well as for cars and trucks. Inflation worries could also limit governments’ ability to stimulate the economy if a slowdown worsens. As it is, the unusual infusion of public support in the United States and Europe is winding down.

“Overall, risks to economic prospects have increased, and policy trade-offs have become more complex,” Ms. Gopinath said. The I.M.F. lowered its 2021 global growth forecast to 5.9 percent, down from the 6 percent projected in July. For 2022, the estimate is 4.9 percent.

The key to understanding the global economy is that recoveries in different countries are out of sync, said Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. “Each and every economy is suffering or benefiting from its own idiosyncratic factors,” he said.

For countries like China, Vietnam and South Korea, whose economies have large manufacturing sectors, “inflation hits them where it hurts the most,” Mr. Daco said, raising costs of raw materials that reverberate through the production process.

The pandemic has underscored how economic success or failure in one country can ripple throughout the world. Floods in Shanxi, China’s mining region, and monsoons in India’s coal-producing states contribute to rising energy prices. A Covid outbreak in Ho Chi Minh City that shuts factories means shop owners in Hoboken won’t have shoes and sweaters to sell.

The I.M.F. warned that if the coronavirus — or its variants — continued to hopscotch across the globe, it could reduce the world’s estimated output by $5.3 trillion over the next five years.

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bodog poker review|Most Popular_platforms, just as it’ /blogs/transatlantic-digital-cooperation/ Thu, 23 Sep 2021 13:58:18 +0000 /?post_type=blogs&p=30544 France has declared a “crisis of trust” in the United States after Australia scuttled a previous deal to buy diesel-electric submarines from France in favor of nuclear-powered ones from the...

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France has declared a “crisis of trust” in the United States after Australia scuttled a previous deal to buy diesel-electric submarines from France in favor of nuclear-powered ones from the United States. In reaction, President Macron recalled France’s ambassador to the United States and canceled a Washington gala. In a show of solidarity with France, some EU officials are suggesting that the planned launch of the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Pittsburgh on September 29 should be postponed as well. Such a move would be a mistake, one that hurts EU interests. Instead, the EU should keep its eye on the strategic goal of using the TTC to foster closer collaboration with the United States on bilateral and global digital policy.

While France may be the odd-man-out in the submarine deal, it should recognize that this has nothing to do with a weakened U.S. commitment to transatlantic relations and more to do with its primary focus on balancing and containing China’s growing influence. Along with most EU member states, France has shown an unwillingness to take on China, preferring to forge politically appetizing economic agreements with China even if they come at the expense of long-term strategic interests. 

While the Europeans might defend their approach to China by arguing they want to maintain strategic autonomy, the reality is that on many digital issues, they treat China like a preferred partner while giving the cold shoulder to the United States. The clearest example of this has been in the EU’s approach to digital policy. The EU has launched multiple efforts aimed at the United States, its close ally and partner, from attempting to build a European cloud to counter U.S. cloud providers to repeated attacks on successful U.S. tech companies through new tax, data protection, and competition policies. Most galling of all is the EU’s resistance to the transfer of European personal data to the United States, claiming that the U.S. government is an untrustworthy partner—despite U.S. intelligence agencies supporting counter-terrorism activity in Europe—while seemingly ignoring the risk presented by the Chinese government by not scrutinizing data transfers to China Never mind how the EU overlooks the surveillance activities of its own member states. 

Europe loves seeing itself as a global regulatory superpower when it comes to digital policy. Yet, the EU’s actual impact on global digital regulations—whether on data protection, AI, cybersecurity, or digital markets—will inevitably be limited if it fails to work with like-minded partners to embed its values and approaches in a larger part of the global digital economy. As much as it may try, it can’t enforce its regulations on everyone, certainly not on China. Pragmatic cooperation with the United States (and other like-minded partners) is a way to extend its strategic influence and promote its interests and values. The contrast with digital authoritarian and protectionist countries could not be clearer in terms of what other values and rules may fill the vacuum in the absence of global leadership. 

While some EU officials have stated that they do not want the TTC to focus on confronting China, ignoring the challenge posed by China’s rise is both impractical and imprudent. From AI to supply chains to intellectual property to 5G to cybersecurity, digital trade and technology policy will be heavily shaped by China’s actions and ambitions. Thankfully some EU member states, like Denmark, recognize what’s at stake and remain committed to transatlantic cooperation. Both U.S. and European strategic interests require limiting Chinese innovation mercantilism and digital authoritarianism—when the EU does not work with the United States on this goal, it should not be surprising to see the U.S. government focus attention on other allies and partners who want to build this multilateral coalition. Hopefully, other EU member states, and the European Commission, put France’s emotions to one side and get back to focusing on the region’s interests. As the great French leader Charles de Gaulle stated, “no nation has friends, only interests.” It is in the interest of France and the EU to work with the United States on the TTC. 

Daniel Castro is vice president at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and director of ITIF’s Center for Data Innovation.

Nigel Cory is an associate director covering trade policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. He focuses on cross-border data flows, data governance, intellectual property, and how they each relate to digital trade and the broader digital economy.

To read the full commentary from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, please click here.

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