Trade policy in Asia is dangerously unbalanced. It rests on a shaky leg of discriminatory bilateral and regional FTAs. Its other WTO leg has gone to sleep: most Asian countries have neglected the WTO in favour of FTAs. Its regional-cooperation arm is limp: grand visions for regional economic...

Trade policy in Asia has switched from non-discriminatory unilateral liberalisation, reinforced by GATT/ WTO commitments, to discriminatory FTAs. The paper surveys the FTA activity of the major regional players: China, India, the ASEAN countries, Japan and South Korea. It concludes that emerging...

A short introduction -- Free trade vs. protection -- The political economy of trade -- The World Trade Organization -- Preferential trade agreements -- Asia, China, and unilateral liberalization -- Conclusion : the future of free trade

This paper weighs the case for a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and Taiwan. It focuses on the role Taiwan has to play in the EU's economic and geopolitical strategy in Asia. Taiwan is one of the key players in the world’s Information and Communication Technology...

In recent years, debates on international trade policy have focused on the role of the World Trade Organization and the two big political and economic powers - the USA and the EU. In this paper, the author, an expert in trade policy, argues that this focus must change. Large supra-national...

In late 2006, Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, announced a new EU policy on free trade agreements (FTAs). This is contained in the European Commission's Global Europe Communication. The core of this new chapter in EU trade policy is planned FTAs with three Asian partners, India, ASEAN...