Global trade research
Our insights and original research shine a light on global trade trends and issues through a balanced and objective perspective. We highlight the conditions for making trade more sustainable.
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The Hinrich Foundation supports research projects and initiatives that advance understanding of global trade issues and support policy development. We invite researchers and organizations to submit proposals for research, which are considered twice during each calendar year.
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Sustainable trade
238 articles & resources | 105 experts
Trade should deliver mutually acceptable benefits between trading partners and achieve balanced economic, societal, and environmental outcomes.
Explore our topical research, including the Sustainable Trade Index, which measures the capacity of economies to participate in international trade in a manner that supports the long-term domestic and global goals of economic growth, environmental protection, and better social equity.
The STI 2024 is the sixth edition of the index.

Modern trade theory and trade’s role in economic development
12 November 2024

Building a resilient trade system in a volatile world
22 October 2024

Why governments need to adopt standards for procurement
17 September 2024

Trade, agriculture, and development: Meeting global challenges to Commonwealth countries
17 September 2024

What modern slavery looks like and why it’s bad for global trade
03 September 2024

Southeast Asia’s pathway to clean energy is all but clean
06 August 2024

International cooperation is critical to Southeast Asia’s clean energy transition
23 July 2024

Perspectives of Two Island Nations: Singapore and New Zealand
16 July 2024

Unilateral green rules and voluntary standards: A balancing act for Brazil
14 May 2024

China Shock 2.0: What the West should and should not worry about
30 April 2024

The US APEC 2023 host year “meets the moment” in the Asia-Pacific
09 April 2024

Resilient supply chains: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow
23 January 2024

Why economies shouldn't depend too much on natural resources
16 January 2024

The real cost of export restrictions
28 November 2023

Understanding the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism
07 November 2023

Mexico and Vietnam’s role in global supply chain reshuffle
26 September 2023

The costs of export restrictions to the global economy
19 September 2023

Supply traceability: How US trade policies affect Vietnam's garment industry
11 April 2023

Superpower rivalry heats up global race for human capital
04 April 2023

Global flows: The ties that bind in an interconnected world
21 February 2023

A global rainforest deal is more complicated than you think
31 January 2023

Digital trade facilitation holds the key to resilient trade
06 December 2022

As we enter a new era of instability, we need new institutions. What should they look like?
29 November 2022

China’s growth ambitions tangle with net zero realities
26 October 2022

Biden’s contradictory goals set to collide at G-20 and APEC
11 October 2022

Foreign investment has helped to deliver growth in Southeast Asia – can it also deliver sustainable development?
05 October 2022

Battling food shortages: India steps up, but in the wrong direction
20 September 2022

“Securing fairness”: Europe unsheathes the International Procurement Instrument
02 August 2022

Wind and wires: Can Europe stay ahead in green and 5G technologies?
26 April 2022

Stepping on the gas: the Ukraine war reshapes climate and energy policy
12 April 2022

Will war in Ukraine unperch US dollar preeminence in global trade?
29 March 2022

Putin’s gamble shakes up energy trade – and China may gain
15 March 2022

Counting carbon: The implications of border carbon adjustments on developing countries
14 December 2021

Making the most of the ‘C’ in APEC – for cooperation to tackle climate change
09 November 2021

Advancing sustainable development in Asia: What role for trade and investment?
03 November 2021

The WTO, trade agreements, and sustainable trade: the Asian experience
03 November 2021

Lithium is ‘new oil’ as electric vehicle market expands
21 September 2021

Reduced trade barriers on vaccines can balance economic recovery
31 August 2021

More is less: How China’s policies could weaken global food security
27 July 2021

Rising copper prices: a sign of economic recovery or market distortion?
06 July 2021

Old wine in new bottles? India’s new search for self-reliance
18 May 2021

Is US trade policy going green? Environment takes center stage at USTR
18 May 2021

Value chains: Clear skies over Asia’s new foreign investment landscape
11 May 2021

GVC resilience: COVID-19 won’t rattle East Asian supply chains
05 May 2021

De-risk vaccine production: The risk of doing too little
27 April 2021

Inclusive growth: The digital transformation of East Asian trade
20 April 2021

International trade in 2021: Three key trade questions
06 January 2021

Traducing cross-border supply chains: Who benefits?
01 December 2020

Indonesia's "Omnibus Bill" weakens labor and environmental standards
13 October 2020

China's "dual circulation" will bring more sustainable trade
14 September 2020

Four trade trends post COVID-19 and how they will affect growth
16 June 2020

Tensions mount between security and efficiency in global trade
21 May 2020

The pandemic disrupted global supply chains but were they already morphing?
21 May 2020

Flu vaccines result from global collaboration: A COVID-19 vaccine will too
30 April 2020

COVID-19 effects on business: More state intervention in business strategies
30 March 2020

Trade tensions rise on dual use technologies, protectionism and geopolitics
30 October 2019

"New NAFTA" debates signal importance – and challenges – of sustainable trade
23 September 2019

Poor enforcement and low utilization undermine benefits from international trade agreements
12 April 2019

Trump's China deal won't address the systemic issues
15 February 2019

How the Philippines can use sustainability to attract FDI
11 September 2018

Trade agreements take a back seat in the great international tax race
03 November 2017

China no longer treasures the world’s garbage: The WTO provides a place to trash talk
13 October 2017

North Korea-China trade ties: North Korea’s life jacket is becoming China’s straight jacket
29 September 2017

Less-educated men hit hard by technological shift in job market
10 August 2017

Small American cities depend more on exports than big cities
31 March 2017

Michael Jordan's vs. Qiaodan Sports – why better IP protection is a key condition for rules-based trade
09 January 2017

The US and China must avoid ‘competing camps’ mentality
03 November 2015
Trade and geopolitics
115 articles & resources | 76 experts
Trade and geopolitics are deeply interdependent, driven by nations’ shared economic interests in the global political landscape. As these common interests grow stronger, the root of their relationship deepens accordingly. This intricate relationship serves as a vital thread that weaves together economic interests, resource accessibility, trade route control, regional integration, and the pursuit of geopolitical goals.

TSMC in Japan: Geopolitics, inward investment, and semiconductors
11 February 2025

Two (maybe three) things transshipment ports need to know about securing global trade
04 February 2025

Who is ‘us’? Why a battle to define connected cars matters
21 January 2025

Europe plans two-pronged approach to dealing with Trump
21 January 2025

How the US and China must adapt statecraft to Southeast Asia
14 January 2025

Five things to watch in 2025: Washington’s Asia economic strategy
07 January 2025

China’s long shadow on critical minerals looms over Asia
05 November 2024

De-risking global supply chains: Looking beyond material flows
29 October 2024

The Middle Corridor: Competing for influence in Central Asia
01 October 2024

How economic statecraft shaped Huawei’s global FDI footprint
10 September 2024

Is China’s overseas direct investment outflanking US trade strategy?
27 August 2024

Supply chain changes need a globally coherent policy response
06 August 2024

Regional cooperation can buffer global value chains against uncertainty
30 July 2024

China EVs drive a widening gulf in transatlantic trade policy
30 July 2024

Impossible trinity drives geoeconomic hedging in Southeast Asia
09 July 2024

Win, lose or draw: Estimating the impact of disengagement on APEC trade
04 June 2024

A new war fought with old arms: The limits of economic statecraft
21 May 2024

The big leak: How trade sanctions against Russia are failing

The Deglobalization Myth: Summing up Asia's supply chain changes
26 March 2024

The Deglobalization Myth: How Asia’s supply chains are changing
09 January 2024

China decoupling versus de-risking: What’s the difference?
12 December 2023

“A smaller planet”: Friendshoring’s poorer and less secure world
31 October 2023

Can the US dollar survive as the world’s reserve currency?
31 October 2023

Hard truths in the conversation between the US and Southeast Asia
03 October 2023

Overuse of financial sanctions risks dollar’s role
05 September 2023

How China’s economic zones are challenging global norms

The drums echoing: Africa’s rising clout in global trade and geopolitics
08 August 2023

The complicated truth about sanctions on North Korea
25 July 2023

What's next for our age of globalization?

Dark waters: China and India are bidding up Russian oil sales
30 May 2023

Russia and China converge on the Ukraine war

Supply traceability: How US trade policies affect Vietnam's garment industry
11 April 2023

No limits: What China stands to gain from Russia’s war with the West
21 March 2023

China’s '2035 Standards' quest to dominate global standard-setting
21 February 2023

Friend-shoring pharmaceutical supply chains: The road to India
21 February 2023

How trade diversification changed in the last two decades
14 February 2023

Freeze and seize: Implications of asset confiscations for Russia, China, and the world
10 January 2023

Do national security concerns spell doom for truly global supply chains?
14 December 2022

Strategic reglobalization: Great power rivalry comes for the multilateral trading system
26 October 2022

US has a narrow window of opportunity to lead global trade
27 September 2022

China and the Rise of a Multipolar Economic Order: What Lies Ahead?
27 September 2022

How the war in Ukraine is changing the way nations tackle food security
06 September 2022

How dependent has the world become on trade with China? Does it matter?
06 September 2022

China’s sanctions regime and Lithuania: Policy responses for European institutions
16 August 2022

China’s Belt and Road Initiative in a post-pandemic world
10 August 2022

“Securing fairness”: Europe unsheathes the International Procurement Instrument
02 August 2022

China’s manufacturing dominance and the potential for weaponization of trade
19 July 2022

Supply chains are trying to diversify. Will ASEAN step in?
01 June 2022

Stepping on the gas: the Ukraine war reshapes climate and energy policy
12 April 2022

Will war in Ukraine unperch US dollar preeminence in global trade?
29 March 2022