Blog
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‘This is not a Love Song’
By Bernard Kuiten, Head of External Relations at the World Trade Organization Johnny Rotten, Sex Pistols's former frontman sang this in 1983. It's a spot-on description of the mood between...
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Why Trade-NOW?
Up until now, the debate about trade has been one-sided: It was mainly one side, which dominated the headlines and captured the hearts and minds of the public and stakeholders. As a result, the...
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L’insoutenable légèreté de la décision de l’Institut Français de Séoul en Corée : La disparition de la Médiathèque à Séoul
« C’est avec beaucoup d’humilité que je viens aujourd’hui dans ce lieu essayer de vous parler de francophonie ». Si je reprends, avec encore plus d’humilité, cette première phrase du...
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The WTO is a disaster. Really?
Dear Mr President, I have heard that you called the World Trade Organisation (WTO) “a disaster for America”, and would like to suggest with all due respect that you have been reading the...
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Brexit: The Marginal Effects of EU Agricultural Subsidies on UK Trade
Although it is yet unclear when exactly and under which conditions, but the UK will eventually leave the Single Market. Several studies have therefore assessed the expected impacts of reintroduced...
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US Import Tariffs on Steel Threaten the US Economy
Two weeks ago, the US Department of Commerce released its long-awaited Section 232 reports on steel and aluminum. The reports presented the US Department of Commerce’s findings that imports of...
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Brexit: Leaving the EU – what lies ahead?
The current Brexit debate is mainly about the transition period which will probably follow the UK’s exit from the EU in March 2019. I say probably because, while both sides agree on the principle...
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From the General Agreement to the World Trade Organisation
This blog is about the gap between the old GATT mansion (Villa Bocage) and the modern WTO edifice (Centre William Rappard) – or to explain that more clearly it explores the grey area between the...
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Are Services Really Not Helping the Economy?
Bullocks! That is the conclusion that came to me when I participated in the roundtable conference on services and economic development in Tokyo last week. This conference was organized by the Asian...
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IN MEMORIAM – PETER SUTHERLAND
Peter died last Sunday in a hospital in Dublin, his home city and home country. He was aged 71. He had suffered a heart attack in September 2016, which proved ultimately to be fatal, and had been in...