Apparel Sourcing Intelligence - Worldwide

15th April 2018

Trump U-turns again on TPP. EU just presses on with TPP’s key members

The Trump administration's stances on the TPP in April probably established an all-time record for policy U-turns. The TPP's major members, though, made real progress with the EU Trump's wobbles...

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14th February 2017

Trump seems to be trying to break up NAFTA

A possibly unscripted February 13 remark by Donald Trump might indicate he wants to break up NAFTA, not merely renegotiate it. At a press conference for the Washington visit of...

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31st January 2017

Jilted TPP partners divided over response

The eleven countries abandoned by the US when it left the Trans Pacific Partnership on January 23 appear seriously divided about what to do next. Beijing continues to suggest their...

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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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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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17th November 2014

Grandiose trade deals: the puzzling case of the ignored Apparel Periphery

China's November 11 call for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) seems to add yet another grandiose trade plan doomed for oblivion to a puzzling set of projects which...

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10th October 2013

Pacific trade statements need serious decoding

Participants at recent Pacific trade talks issued highly reassuring statements. But their words mask a very different reality - and one attacked by major garment retailers The 21 member countries...

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9th October 2013

Canada publishes new rules on trade concessions for developing countries

Canada published its revised duty concessions for developing countries on September 27. The rules - to be implemented from January 1 2015 -  will be integrated into our summary of...

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