December 10, 2019: 278 community organisations and trade unions, including AFTINET, have released an open letter demanding reform of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) so that it does not undermine action to address climate change.
December 9, 2019: 94 community organisations from Asia Pacific countries demand details of giant RCEP trade deal before signing
December 4, 2019: The government announced that a new Bilateral Investment Agreement between Uruguay and Australia was signed on April 5, 2019. As is the usual practice, the text was tabled in parliament only after signing, and the agreement was reviewed by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT), which reported on December 3. Since the government has a majority on the committee, the report recommended that the government ratify the agreement. The previous 2002 Uruguay-Australia bilateral agreement will be terminated when this agreement enters into force.
December 3, 2019: A new article in the Australian suggests that the government may delay its response to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) digital platforms inquiry report amid strong lobbying from the tech industry.
December 3, 2019: Japan’s Deputy Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, Hideki Makihara, has stated that Japan is "not thinking at all" about a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal without India, calling into question the future of the deal.
December 2, 2019: Deborah James argues that, 20 years after huge protests surrounded the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial meeting in Seattle, promises of prosperity and job creation remain unfulfilled.
November 28, 2019: Leaked documents from US-UK trade talks show that the US has been pushing the UK towards a hard Brexit and that the National Health Service (NHS) has not been excluded from trade discussions.
November 28, 2019: The European Commission has announced the conclusion of a treaty between EU members that will terminate intra-EU bilateral investment treaties and prevent investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) cases being brought between EU member states.
November 25, 2019: A new working paper by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Institute for Policy Studies, and Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung calls for a new progressive trade agenda.
November 20, 2019: Kate Lappin, Asia Pacific Regional Secretary of Public Services International, and Michelle Higelin, Executive Director of ActionAid Australia, have warned of the danger that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RECP) poses to the 1.1 billion women living in RCEP member countries, arguing that “a gender equitable trade policy is possible. But it would look nothing like the RCEP.”