Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods Conference, the following institutions have prepared this statement: Institute for Economic Justice (South Africa), Centre for Social and Economic Progress (India), Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS, University of London (UK), BRICS Policy Center (Brazil), Boston University Global Development Policy Center (USA) and Heinrich Böll Foundation (Germany). […]
By Ishana Ratan On May 14, 2024, the United States Trade Representative’s office revealed a new round of tariffs on imports from China. Notably, these trade barriers impact electric vehicles (EV) and batteries, among a host of other industrial products including steel and medical devices. Tariffs on EVs will jump from 25 percent to 100 […]
By Rachel Thrasher Pressure is building for European Union (EU) member states to execute a coordinated withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). As of March 2024, the European Council of Ministers approved such a move, considering that the treaty is “too protective of fossil fuel investments” and “incompatible with Europe’s climate ambitions.” This follows […]
By Tim Hirschel-Burns On Wednesday, February 28, the Boston University Global Development Policy Center (GDP Center) and Centre for Policy Dialogue co-hosted an event at the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s Trade and Sustainability Hub, which took place alongside the 13th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Rachel Thrasher, […]
Editor’s Note: Below is an excerpt of testimony submitted by Sandra Polaski to the United States of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade in May 2019 regarding the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. Official estimates of the impact of the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) on US employment and wages suggest that there will be […]
By Rachel Thrasher From February 26-29 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will meet for the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13). Like many international institutions, the WTO faces the challenge of meeting its original mandate amid multiple global crises, and MC13 presents a vital opportunity for trade ministers […]
Despite the fact that the climate crisis requires great international collaboration and coordination when it comes to policymaking for mitigating emissions, the most recent report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) demonstrates conclusively that country leaders have not taken nearly enough action. The obstacles to climate action are myriad – political, […]
Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have an opportunity at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in February 2024 to grant an extension to the much-embattled Waiver to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The Waiver, proposed more than three years ago, was intended to allow countries and their pharmaceutical firms […]
Since the establishment of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in 2001, there has been a concern that the now-global rules governing intellectual property (IP) protection would present obstacles to securing access to medicines for populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A few years later, the […]
Editor’s Note: Below is an excerpt of input submitted by Kyla Tienhaara, Rachel Thrasher and Kevin P. Gallagher to the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) at the United Nations in June 2023 to inform the OHCHR’s report on “Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms and the right to a clean, healthy and […]