Rising protectionism has recently become an increasing concern amongst a number of trade economists and policymakers. At the 2017 G20 Hamburg summit, G20 leaders agreed to fight protectionism includ-ing all unfair trade practices. However, the language of the final decla-ration on trade was weak and ambiguous. It did not suggest any promis-ing way forward. Although international organizations and ...

Korea has developed bilateral relations for economic cooperation with emerging countries in the Middle East and Central Asia. G2G (govern-ment-to-government) joint committees have been organized to improve the economic environment for trade and investment between two countries. However, bilateral economic partnership could reveal some limita-tions in developing broader cooperation due to the industrial ...

China's trade surplus with the United States recorded the highest level ever last year, followed by hard-line trade actions. The Trump administration, which has viewed the persistent trade imbalance with China as a threat to America's economic health, subsequently announced a list of Chinese goods imports to be subject to tariffs as penalty for the alleged unfair trade practices. The Chinese government ...

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines international trade as "an engine for inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction" that contributes to the promotion of sustainable development. By adopting Agenda 2030, the international community is committing to the continuous promotion of trade liberalization over the next 15 years. International trade will play its role as an effective ...

For a long time, freer trade was respected as the best policy among the majority of economists. Globalization leads to substantial losses for certain people, but the overall gains outweigh this loss and thus opening trade was perceived as a good policy for the domestic economy as a whole. However, the increase in inequality due to international trade and insufficient redistribution for losers has ...

It is likely that the five-year-old Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA), also referred to as the KORUS, will be officially renegotiated sooner or later as U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have reaffirmed that economic cooperation and sustainable trade are an important pillar of their alliance and agreed to expedite talks on the bilateral FTA during President Trump's ...

For a long time, manufacturing and international trade have been the main contributors to economic growth for the three countries of North-east Asia. However, contrary to their trade surplus in goods, they are all countries who face trade deficit in services. Also, despite its importance in the economy, the services trade of the three Northeast Asia countries seems to contribute less to their economy ...

On November 14, 2017, in Manila, Philippines, the heads of 16 countries including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN announced 2018 as the new target year to conclude the Re-gional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. The RCEP Participating Countries (RPCs) had originally tried to achieve a substantial conclusion for the RCEP by the end of 2017, in ...

Among the high-level guests of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were the heads of states of the three Baltic countries: Presidents Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia, Raimonds Vējonis of Latvia and Dalia Grybauskaitė of Lithuania. Each of the three held a meeting with their South Korean counterpart, President Jae-in Moon, to discuss strengthening their country's relationship with ...

One of the keywords of the Chinese economy in 2018 is "supply-side structural reform" (SSSR). China's economic growth rate reached 6.9% in 2017, rebounding for the first time since entering the New Normal (新常態)1 era of China, and climbing higher than previous forecasts by international institutes. The Chinese government held a briefing on how SSSR is one of the main causes of good performance, and ...