Understanding global trade
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
229 articles & resources | 89 experts
Trade should deliver mutually acceptable benefits between trading partners and achieve balanced economic, environmental and social 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 2022 is the fourth edition of the index.

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

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

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

Enabling sustainable investment in ASEAN
07 February 2023

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

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

What is artificial intelligence bringing to international trade?
22 November 2022

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

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

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

Under pressure: China’s yuan stumbles behind thinning defenses
27 September 2022

Battling food shortages: India steps up, but in the wrong direction
20 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 Belt and Road Initiative in a post-pandemic world
10 August 2022

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

Eyes on the prize: The race to hone visibility on supply chains
26 July 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

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

Trade and development in an age of crisis: Mind the fundamentals
15 February 2022

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

A call for openness in a time of lockdowns – and protectionism
16 November 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

Mercantilist reciprocity or free trade: Globalization at a crossroads
19 October 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

Hinrich Foundation sponsored issue: East Asia Forum Quarterly Vol 13 No. 2
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

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

Trade imbalances are an existential threat to the global trading system
17 September 2019

Is the Euro the biggest threat to the global trading system?
17 July 2019

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

Six China experts assess how National People's Congress outcomes will affect global trade
12 March 2019

China’s loose compliance with WTO terms raises tough questions
18 February 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

Export-led growth model on the wane in East Asia related to AI and technology
10 November 2017

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

The US and China must avoid ‘competing camps’ mentality
03 November 2015
US-China trade
182 articles & resources | 70 experts
The US-China trade war is one aspect of the intensifying US-China geopolitical rivalry. US-China trade tensions and their effect on global value chains will impact industry structures, investment, innovation and consumer welfare across the world. Explore topical research, including our book China, Trade and Power by Research Fellow Stewart Paterson.

Russia and China converge on the Ukraine war

APEC 2023: Challenges and opportunities in the United States’ host year
18 April 2023

Are the political winds in Washington starting to shift on China?
11 April 2023

How China's Tech Crackdown Impacts Foreign Investment

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

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

Disciplining China’s state capitalism through international trade rules: Regaining the missed opportunity
07 March 2023

Balloon incident raises stakes on global trade cooperation
28 February 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

US tries to wean off China’s grip on rare-earth magnets
25 January 2023

Why are US leaders ducking a national discussion on trade?
14 December 2022

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

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

Under pressure: China’s yuan stumbles behind thinning defenses
27 September 2022

CHIPS as usual: A defense of US industrial policy
30 August 2022

Quick take: Biden-Xi call leaves four big questions unanswered
02 August 2022

The evolving geopolitics of economic interdependence between the US and China
02 August 2022

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

Biden’s united front targets China’s fight for silicon supremacy
05 July 2022

A larger role from the EU in Southeast Asia: A perspective from ASEAN
28 June 2022

USTR testimony signals more tensions ahead for US-China trade
05 April 2022

China will gain economically from the Ukraine war. What might it lose?
22 March 2022

Quick take: How is China responding to the Ukraine crisis?
01 March 2022

The impact of Dual Circulation Strategy on China’s overseas investments
08 February 2022

Will multinational corporations survive China’s Dual Circulation Strategy?
14 December 2021

China’s circumvention of trade remedies – and how the US can respond
23 November 2021

Can and should the US compete with China in infrastructure diplomacy?
23 November 2021

How will China’s Dual Circulation Strategy impact the global economy?
12 October 2021

Asia’s Greater Bay Area: Worth the risks for investors?
05 October 2021

Quick Take: What did USTR Tai’s speech really say about Biden’s China policy?
05 October 2021

Quick Take: US-EU Trade and Tech Council reveals transatlantic fissures
30 September 2021

For, by, and from the Party: Defining the parameters of Dual Circulation
14 September 2021

China's role in transatlantic relations: Time for a new strategy
24 August 2021

Techno-nationalism via semiconductors: Can chip manufacturing return to America?
15 June 2021

US and EU look for a deal on subsidies, while eyeing China
23 March 2021

Reauthorizing Trade Promotion Authority: The first trade test for the Biden administration
16 March 2021

Biden’s supply chain review could produce Trump-like policies
09 March 2021

A remarkable resemblance: Germany from 1900 to 1945 and China today
18 February 2021

Rethinking China trade policy: Lessons learned and options ahead
09 February 2021

From "China Inc." to "CCP Inc.": A new paradigm for Chinese state capitalism
02 February 2021

President Biden on trade: Same policy, different tone?
26 January 2021

China's dual circulation policy narrows foreign business opportunities
30 October 2020

China's outline for a strategic transformation to greater self-sufficiency
30 October 2020

China to turn inward for growth prospects, but conflicts with the US will continue
30 October 2020

A techno-globalist approach to IP and supply chain disruption
13 October 2020

The economic balance of power and need for international alliances
08 October 2020

US trade policy under Biden: Will it differ from Trump?
11 August 2020

China is giving ancient Silk Road trade routes a digital makeover
23 July 2020

The digital Yuan and China’s potential financial revolution
15 July 2020

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

Controls on semiconductor trade are a harbinger for "techno-nationalism"
11 June 2020

China NPC closing focused on employment, income creation and conciliation
29 May 2020

China growth: NPC signals more stimulus but still meager growth
29 May 2020

Is Africa an option for manufacturers pulling out of China?
24 May 2020