By: Giovanni Dall'Agnola

The cocoa supply chain spans continents and impacts millions of lives, from producers to consumers. In recent years, increased consumer awareness and evolving regulatory landscapes have put sustainability at the forefront of discussions surrounding cocoa. Sustainability challenges loom large over the cocoa industry, posing threats to both the environment and society. Deforestation, child labor, forced labor, and economic disparities mar the sector, underscoring an urgent need for action. Efforts to address these challenges resonate with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasizing the interconnectedness of social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

Against this backdrop, the European Union (EU) has launched initiatives like the Sustainable Cocoa Initiative to promote sustainability in cocoa-producing regions, particularly in West Africa. This blog post explores the multifaceted dimensions of the Sustainable Cocoa Initiative and its potential for advancing sustainability in the cocoa supply chain. The interplay between the Sustainable Cocoa Initiative and other EU measures, including trade agreements and unilateral trade measures, is also examined, highlighting opportunities for synergy.

This blog post was finalized on September 30, 2024.

By: Elizabeth Butscher

The Center on Inclusive Trade and Development (CITD) held its second annual Rethinking World Trade conference on Wednesday, April 3rd. Our first panel, which followed the launch of “Sustainability in International Trade Agreements,” a book co-edited by Georgetown Law Professor Kathleen Claussen, focused on U.S.-China relations in the aftermath of the so-called “China Shock.” This term refers to the roughly 2 million jobs, particularly in manufacturing, lost in the U.S. to trade with China between 1997 and 2011 due (at least in part) to an influx of Chinese imports. Although these figures have been considerably debated, it is undeniable that the U.S.-China trading relationship has had a significant impact on global trade. Our panelists included Professor Henry Gao of Singapore Management University; Huan Zhu, the Vice-President of the China Trade Monitor; Scott Kennedy, Senior Adviser and Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; and was moderated by Wendy Cutler of the Asia Society Policy Institute.

By: Elizabeth Butscher

The Center on Inclusive Trade and Development (CITD) held its second annual Rethinking World Trade conference on Wednesday, April 3rd. In addition to a book launch and a panel on U.S.-China relations, we hosted a panel discussion on subsidies and industrial policy. As economies around the world seek to reduce economic dependencies and enhance economic security while moving towards decarbonization, the resurgence of industrial policy, including subsidies, is evident. The panel featured Olabisi Akinkugbe, Professor of Law at Dalhousie University, and Inu Manak, the Fellow for Trade Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. The discussion was moderated by Rem Korteweg of the Clingendael Institute.

By: Elizabeth Butscher

To conclude our second annual Rethinking World Trade event, CITD Co-directors Professors Jennifer Hillman and Katrin Kuhlmann engaged in conversation with Shawn Donnan. Shawn previously served as the world trade editor for the Financial Times, where he covered global trade and development, as well as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Now a senior writer at Bloomberg, Shawn weaves together the macroeconomic picture of trade and globalization, with a focus on their impact on local communities.

By: Emilie Kerstens, Michiru Ishihara, Sae Kobayashi

In February 2024, trade ministers will convene for the 13th edition of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) biennial Ministerial Conference (MC13). Historically, these negotiations have proven challenging, often yielding limited outcomes. The preceding Ministerial Conference (MC12) required hard-won compromises resulting in a limited patent waiver for COVID-19 vaccines, an incomplete fisheries subsidies agreement, narrow disciplines related to export restrictions to ease food insecurity, and broad commitments toward WTO reform. Thirty years after the creation of the WTO, there are concerns about its relevance. These concerns stem from perceptions that its three critical functions –negotiation, dispute settlement, and transparency through monitoring– are inadequate in addressing the challenges posed by climate change, the digital divide, and the proliferation of investment restrictions, economic sanctions, economic coercion, and industrial and agricultural subsidies. At the heart of these discussions lies the efficacy of the WTO in navigating contemporary challenges, raising questions about its adaptability in a world marked by a polycrisis. Hence, the question remains: how might MC13 contribute to shape the future of world trade?

By: Emilie Kerstens

On the 13th and 14th of November, the WTO Gender Research Hub held the first-ever Youth Trade Summit on Gender bringing together young professionals, researchers and leading gender and trade champions. The two-day summit provided a unique opportunity for young researchers to build knowledge and capacity at the trade and gender nexus. Emilie Kerstens, CITD Alumni Research Affiliate, was chosen to participate in this event. Click below to read her blogpost about it.

CITD is proud to announce the publication of "Using Trade Tools to Fight Climate Change", co-edited by our Co-Director Jennifer Hillman and Loriane Damian. This book is focused on practical measures that can be taken to harness the power of trade and trade tools to address climate change. Ranging from promoting the transfer of technology allowing local cement production to capture and store carbon, to using services commitments to open doors to climate migrants, to details on everything from green steel to a circular plastics economy to greenhouse gas measurement metrics to carbon clubs, the book is based on papers written by Georgetown Law students.

This book offers sound legal assessments of what can make a climate measure WTO consistent and how new norms could be established to separate bad from good subsidies. An excellent guide for policymakers looking to take bolder action on climate change through trade measures without triggering trade
reprisals.

On March 29, 2023, renowned China expert and trade law scholar Professor Henry Gao of Singapore Management University visited Georgetown Law for a discussion of his most recent book co-authored with Professor Weihuan Zhou and entitled “Between Market Economy and State Capitalism: China's State-Owned Enterprises and the World Trading System.”

This event was organized by the Center on Inclusive Trade and Development (CITD) in collaboration with the Georgetown Society for Trade Investment and Development and the Center for Asian Law. CITD’s co-director, Professor Jennifer Hillman, facilitated the discussion.