News & Politics

  • Analysis: Economic Security and Digital Trade: Time for an EU-US Digital Agreement

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    In response to rising geopolitical tensions, both the EU and the US are increasingly restricting the cross-border flow of trade and investments. This presents a challenge to trade liberalisation efforts in general and affects digital trade in particular. This report reviews ongoing efforts to advance the integration of digital trade and proposes a way forward… Read more

  • Digital Horizons: Unlocking New Zealand’s Digital Trade Potential with Southeast Asia

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    The digital economy is growing at an unprecedented rate, accounting for nearly 16% of global GDP today, and 18% by 2028. Southeast Asia is a particular powerhouse, with the digital economy projected to exceed USD$1 trillion by 2030. Digital trade is estimated to account for around one-quarter of all crossborder commerce. Exports of digitally-delivered services… Read more

  • Africa is Turning its Attention to Digital Trade

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    This newsletter focuses into digital trade, particularly highlighting critical issues from Africa’s perspective, such as data governance and the AfCFTA. tralac also explore the forefront technology of artificial intelligence (AI), along with digital governance and digital inclusion. For African countries, the most recent report from 2023 indicates a varied landscape of internet inclusivity. South Africa… Read more

  • Brazil and China Seek Systems Integration to Facilitate Trade Between the Two Countries

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    On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, Brazil and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to integrate Brazil’s single foreign trade portal with its Chinese counterpart. This initiative aims to enhance the flexibility, security, and efficiency of foreign trade operations between the two nations. The agreement aims to achieve interoperability between systems by allowing them to… Read more

  • International Trade Administration Announces Efforts to Advance U.S. Competitiveness and Trade in the Digital Economy

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    Today, the International Trade Administration (ITA) announced a series of new initiatives to advance U.S. competitiveness and trade in the digital economy. These initiatives will support policy advocacy in international engagements, provide tailored resources for U.S. businesses to leverage, and equip ITA’s digital attachés with applied experience to empower them to be stronger advocates for U.S. commercial… Read more

  • EU and US High-level Officials Meet to Take Stock of Ongoing Cooperation Under the EU-US Trade and Technology Council

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    On 16 September 2024, high-level officials of the European Union and United States met to review how work has progressed under the EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) since the ministerial meeting of April 2024 in Leuven, Belgium. The two sides took stock of the progress on joint work under way in various TTC working… Read more

  • Open, Collaborative, Competitive – a Digital Policy Agenda for Europe

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    The world has changed considerably in the past five years – a global pandemic, growing security challenges and geopolitical tensions, and the accelerated rate of technological change have altered the EU’s economic, social, and political landscape since 2019. Over the next five years digital innovation will continue accelerating, creating new opportunities and disruption for policymakers… Read more

  • DHS Establishes United States-United Kingdom-Australia Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group (SCRCG) to Tackle Supply Chain Threats

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    This week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the United Kingdom (U.K.)’s Department for Business and Trade of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Australia’s Department of Industry, Science, and Resources established the United States-United Kingdom-Australia Supply Chain Resilience Cooperation Group to enhance efforts to combat threats to critical supply… Read more

  • African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Legal Texts and Policy Documents

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    The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is flagship project of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, a blueprint for attaining inclusive and sustainable development across the continent over the next 50 years. It aims to boost intra-African trade by providing a comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade agreement among the State Parties covering trade in goods and… Read more

  • EU and China launch Cross-Border Data Flow Communication Mechanism

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    On 27 August, the EU and China launched the first discussions under the new Cross-Border Data Flow Communication Mechanism.   Sabine Weyand, director-general of DG Trade at the European Commission, met with Vice-Minister Wang Jingtao of the Cyberspace Administration of China to formally launch the new mechanism.  The mechanism will focus on practical solutions to address problems… Read more