Hosuk Lee-Makiyama

• The postponement of the planned ‘strategic partnership' between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU highlights deep concerns and divisions for opening up in the relationship. The EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and Investment Partnership Agreement (IPA), stand alone as a success for EU-ASEAN trade relations, in an otherwise troubled landscape. Bilateral trade agreements with Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand remain...

In the context of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement soon to be concluded by both parties, ECIPE organized a high-level conference to discuss the economic benefits and social dimensions of this agreement. It is an important agreement for both sides, but also comes at a time when the principles and practice of the open and rules-based trading system are stressed. The conference reflected stakeholders’ positions on what new trade opportunities will this...

The EU is proposing a digital services tax (DST) to tax certain so-called ‘digital companies’, which it alleges access the Single Market while paying ‘minimal amounts of tax to our treasuries’. But like all exporters, these firms pay the majority of their taxes where their product development takes place, and services are designed and implemented. The EU has singled out certain revenue streams, as it claims they have a high reliance on intangibles and...

In August 2018, the government of Australia concluded its review of the national security risks of the telecom sector with the new 5G networks. The review provides new guidance to telecom carriers, implicitly restricting Chinese vendors. It concludes that 5G changes how the networks operate and increase the potential security risks to the point today’s safeguards are insufficient. The government must therefore intervene, as foreign powers may exploit these...