As upheaval in global trade policy puts the WTO’s relevance in jeopardy, its ruling General Council appointed Norway’s Ambassador Petter Ølberg as facilitator for WTO reform to put before its next Ministerial Conference in March a slate of options to decide on the multilateral institution’s future. The Hinrich Foundation conducted a survey of trade businesses to gauge their priorities and needs for WTO reform. Here are the findings.
It is sometimes forgotten that the US once dominated rare earths. California’s Mountain Pass mine produced the majority of the world’s rare earths right up until the late 1980s. Then globalization came along and now China dominates this critical value chain. This may be about to change, as the Trump administration made a decisive intervention to provide a floor price for a key rare earth input, neodymium-praseodymium. Henry Storey investigates.
The Hinrich Foundation Award for Distinguished Reporting on Trade, administered by the National Press Foundation, recognizes exemplary journalism that illuminates and advances the public’s understanding of international business and trade. Applications for the 2025 award are open now.
Survey findings on business priorities for WTO reform
Chuin Wei Yap 26 August 2025
As upheaval in global trade policy puts the WTO’s relevance in jeopardy, its ruling General Council appointed Norway’s Ambassador Petter Ølberg as facilitator for WTO reform to put before its next Ministerial Conference in March a slate of options to decide on the multilateral institution’s future. The Hinrich Foundation conducted a survey of trade businesses to gauge their priorities and needs for WTO reform. We publish the findings here. The Foundation is also working with Ølberg to co-organizea panel next week to draw feedback from the private sector.
The US makes a big move to test China’s rare earth dominance
Henry Storey 26 August 2025
California’s Mountain Pass mine produced the majority of the world’s rare earths until the late 1980s. Then globalization came along and now China dominates this critical value chain. This may be about to change, as the Trump administration made a decisive intervention in July to provide a floor price for a key rare earth input, neodymium-praseodymium. Dragoman senior analyst Henry Storey investigates.
The Hinrich Foundation Award for Distinguished Reporting on Trade
The Hinrich Foundation Award for Distinguished Reporting on Trade, administered by the National Press Foundation, recognizes exemplary journalism that illuminates and advances the public’s understanding of international business and trade. The award carries a US$10,000 prize. Applications for the 2025 award are open now.
WTO-Hinrich Foundation panel on business priorities for WTO reform
The WTO and the Hinrich Foundation are jointly hosting an online roundtable on Tuesday, 2 September, co-moderated by the WTO’s Facilitator for WTO Reform, Ambassador Petter Ølberg of Norway, and Chuin Wei Yap, research director for the Hinrich Foundation. The panel features senior executives from tech, logistics, manufacturing, financial services, SME and other sectors. A few limited seats remain available for registration here.
As the US de minimis exemption ends, shippers are already canceling shipments. We are learning more about the US-EU agreement, while Japan and South Korea await clarifications and India’s fate remains uncertain. New tariffs target more steel and aluminum products, with Section 232 tariffs expected on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Check out what we’ve been reading.
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