Apparel Sourcing Intelligence - Worldwide

17th November 2016

Trade with China. Triumph of hope over experience?

The British Brexit debate, and the aftermath of Trump's election, are bringing out widely contrasting views of China as a business partner. Some are hopelessly naive. British hope One of...

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17th November 2016

US Congressional committee claims China “violates the spirit and the letter of its international trade obligations”

A US Congressional committee prepared a report before the November 8 elections savagely attacking China's good faith as a trading partner. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (composed only of...

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17th November 2016

A bad week for Brexit.

Theresa May keeps insisting “Brexit means Brexit”. But no-one in Britain can agree what Brexit means, how long it’ll take to get there or what Britain’s trade policy will be...

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12th November 2016

Obama administration gives up on TPP

The US Administration admitted on November 11 it no longer expected Congressional ratification of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) during the Obama Presidency. President-elect Trump has already announced abandoning the deal...

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2nd March 2016

Time to put the TPP out of its misery?

I simply don't buy US lobbyists' conviction the TPP will get ratified this year. Shouldn't they abandon the attempt? After the Super Tuesday Primary results, more and more U.S. Congress...

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17th June 2015

How secrecy’s killing the trade deals

Why is the TPP (and with it the TTIP and the TiSA) so close to death? In a June 17 Sourcing Journal article I argued that their obsession with secrecy...

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13th May 2015

AGOA renewal threatened by US Senate block on discussing TPP “Fast track”

Though possibly temporary, the May 12 US Senate rejection of a proposal to speed up approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) also imperilled progress on other key trade issues -...

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11th March 2015

China gets excited about free trade agreements

China will accelerate talks over free trade areas, said its Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng on March 8. The country will "will accelerate talks over free trade areas with Japan and...

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5th March 2015

US plans for TPP seem to slip further

The US President’s Trade Agenda released on March 4 says “in 2015, [the US] will conclude negotiations with TPP countries.” But the day before, Orrin Hatch, the Republican chairing the Senate Finance Committee, told...

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31st January 2015

Australia adds deals with China to Korea and Japan – and eyes India

China and Australia announced  in mid-November that a free trade agreement  had been initialled. Negotiations started in May 2005. The Australian Prime Minster’s office said it expected the two countries’...

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31st January 2015

2014 Trade agreements: Korea strikes deals with China, Australia, Vietnam and Canada

In addition to its deal with Australia, in early November, Korea announced it had initialled an FTA with China, though said it would not release details until a provisional signature...

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7th January 2015

Fijian garment makers welcome new Australian duty system

Fijian garment makers' special duty free access to Australia expired on December 31, to be replaced by their joining least-developed countries in an overall duty-free programme.  The new system, factory...

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