January 28, 2020: Ursula von der Leyen, the new European Commission President, told business leaders last week that the EU was determined to meet its target of carbon neutrality by 2050, and if necessary would use carbon intensity taxes “to prevent the import of CO2 from abroad”
January 23, 2020: In November 2019 15 governments announced they had concluded the talks for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), but India withdrew from the negotiations. The target date for signing has now been postponed to November 2020, as other governments ask India to negotiate to re-join.
January 22, 2019: Australian mining company Indiana Resources is one of three mining companies that have served the Tanzanian government with a notice of intent to bring an ISDS case after it revoked the companies’ retention licences.
January 21, 2020: A New York Times investigation reprinted in the Sydney Morning Herald has reported that an American software company, established by Australian developer Hoan Ton-That, has developed ground-breaking facial recognition software that is being used without any regulation or public scrutiny by both public agencies and private companies in the US.
January 16, 2020: The US-China phase one tariff deal that was announced on December 19 has been signed and the text has been released.
January 14, 2020: Uber has written to the Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez to officially notify him that it intends to sue the Colombian government for its decision to block the platform company from operating in the country.
January 13, 2020: Noah Smith recently reported on a debate about US trade policy at an American Economic Association meeting that showed more economists are criticising the “cosy consensus” on corporate-dominated free trade agreements.
January 7, 2020: Aura Energy Ltd, an Australian company also listed in the UK, has lodged a claim under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) for US 1.8 billion compensation from the Swedish government because in 2018 it decided to phase out uranium mining for environmental reasons.
January 6, 2020: The global response to Australian bushfires suggest that Australia will face strong international pressure to increase its action on climate change, including by transitioning away from fossil fuels.
December 19, 2019: In a reported ‘Phase One’ agreement with China, the US has agreed to ditch its threatened new tariffs of $156 billion on Chinese goods, and has reduced but not removed existing tariffs. In return, China has agreed to buy more US agricultural exports and change its trade practices in the areas of intellectual property, technology transfer, agriculture, financial services and currency.