On 19 February, the WTO’s Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala took an idea to the WTO’s governing General Council. She proposed an independent panel of “eminent persons” to kickstart reform of the WTO. The Council did not take a decision, so the idea remains in limbo. This is tragic. The multilateral trading system is under its gravest threat since its inception in 1948 under GATT. The WTO has no choice but to reexamine its objectives and restructure the organization if it is to survive today’s trade challenges. To support its effort to evolve and survive, the Hinrich Foundation conducted a three-week-long survey which ended last Wednesday to evaluate and pinpoint the most critical needs in the WTO's reform. We present the findings of our survey on WTO reform. Writing on how Trump’s tariffs are likely to play out, Kurt Tong takes stock of Asia’s geopolitical mindset. He compares the US-China contest to the strategy game called weiqi in Chinese, and finds recent US tariff policy sacrificing its own advantages on Asia’s weiqi board, taking America First from the realm of uncomfortable rhetoric into beggar-thy-neighbor reality. On the US-China tech competition, former president of the US-China Business Council Craig Allen sits for a podcast to discuss China’s capacity for tech adaptation and innovation as it engages the sharp edge of US trade and tech denial policy. Plus, don’t miss our upcoming joint interview of Deborah Elms and Keith Rockwell by Bloomberg’s James Mayger and see what we've been reading on China's tariff retaliation.
TRADE POLICY
Findings from the Hinrich Foundation survey on WTO reform
Chuin Wei Yap 22 April 2025
The multilateral trading system is under its gravest threat since its inception in 1948 under GATT. The WTO has no choice but to reexamine its objectives and restructure the organization if it is to survive today’s trade challenges. In February, the WTO’s governing General Council couldn't even agree to let its director-general convene a panel of "eminent persons" to kickstart reform. Such reform cannot wait any longer. It is essential to the defense of the multilateral trading order. To support this effort for the WTO to evolve and survive, the Hinrich Foundation conducted a survey over three weeks ending 16 April to evaluate and pinpoint critical needs in the WTO's reform. Here are our findings.
Think of the US-China contest as geopolitics on a chessboard, but not the game of kings and pawns. Rather, consider the Asian strategy game called weiqi in Chinese, former US ambassador and now Hinrich Foundation Advisor Kurt Tong writes in an essay for the Foundation. The US started the 21st century with considerable advantage, but Trump’s tariff policy has weakened its own position, given up turf on Asia’s weiqi board, and taken America First from the realm of uncomfortable rhetoric into beggar-thy-neighbor reality, says Tong, also Managing Partner of The Asia Group.
A podcast with Craig Allen on the US-China tech contest
Craig Allen
AFPC-USA
22 April 2025
Former President of the US-China Business Council and longtime diplomat Craig Allen joins our Foundation's partner Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA on a podcast to assess the myths and realities behind China’s rise as a tech superpower. Drawing from his deep experience, as well as his keynote address to Stanford University which the Hinrich Foundation republished, Allen discusses how China is redefining tech innovation, what the US gets wrong about it, and why this global race to dominate high technology is more complex and consequential than many realize.
Trump’s sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs have heightened trade policy uncertainty, rattled markets, and strained international relations. To explore how these moves are reshaping global trade, the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents-USA is hosting a webinar featuring the Hinrich Foundation’s Head of Trade Policy Deborah Elms and Senior Research Fellow Keith Rockwell, moderated by James Mayger, Senior Reporter at Bloomberg News.
Trump suspends “reciprocal” tariffs on most economies but doubles down on China, whose leaders are matching his moves while working to win over regional partners. Also on the cards: New tariffs on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, critical minerals, and levies on Chinese-built ships. As the US moves rapidly toward a crash decoupling with China, big questions loom. Check out what we have been reading.
.png?upscale=true&width=88&height=88&upscale=true&name=AFPC-USA%20logo-modified%20(1).png){kind=small}
