Australia's steel industry has lodged a safeguard application requesting the government apply temporary emergency measures to protect the industry as it is "facing an unprecedented surge in imports" www.steel.org.au/news-and-eve...

Singapore’s running consultations on UAE’s accession to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) www.mti.gov.sg/newsroom/pub...

Australia's Trade Minister says "we're very confident that by the end of the year Costa Rica will have fulfilled all of its obligations to join the CPTPP, and that we will have our 13th member." www.trademinister.gov.au/minister/don...

Quite a lot in the CPTPP Joint Ministerial Statement today - economic coercion, accession update, general review, a "Unit" (not Secretariat), and more www.dfat.gov.au/trade/agreem... 1/8

CPTPP-ASEAN Trade & Investment Dialogue Joint Ministerial Statement also out: www.dfat.gov.au/trade/agreem.... Similar language - but some differences e.g. reference to "fair" not just "free and open" markets, reg coherence added to cooperation areas, etc.

CPTPP-EU Trade and Investment Dialogue Joint Ministerial Statement is out: www.dfat.gov.au/trade/agreem... - lots of politically important statements, plus points to work on digital trade, supply chain resilience, WTO reform and more. Next Dialogue in 2026.

Australia's Dept of Industry, Science and Resources has launched a consultation on reforms to Australia's trade remedies system (submissions due 14 Dec) - "Australia faces heightened risks from unfairly priced imports and shifting regulatory landscapes": consult.industry.gov.au/strengthenin...

Interesting tool from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy - the Anatomy of Choice Alignment Index shows how ASEAN’s Member States have shifted between China and the US on range of indicators including trade www.hinrichfoundation.com/research/art...

Enjoyed this redaction from a New Zealand cabinet paper release - I wonder what the AEM meetings were dominated by... www.mfat.govt.nz/assets/OIA/O...

CPTPP Commission meeting in Melbourne (Australia's best city) this week: www.trademinister.gov.au/minister/don...

Australia is calling for submissions for the General Reviews of its FTAs with China (dfat.gov.au/trade/agreem...) and Indonesia (dfat.gov.au/trade/agreem...)

“China edging toward membership of Trans-Pacific Partnership framework” 🤔 www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202511/06/...

Malaysia’s MITI has released a FAQ on its recent Agreement on Reciprocal Trade with the US: www.miti.gov.my/ART including pushback on idea that it requires Malaysia to follow US trade measures

The line gets longer…

a secretariat for CPTPP is a great idea

Jotted down some of my thoughts on last week’s US deals with Cambodia and Malaysia, focused on services and digital trade: open.substack.com/pub/tradenot...

US threats to use software export controls leading others to diversify away from US software...

RCEP Leaders Summit Statement is out (asean.org/wp-content/u...) Two points: 1) the commitment to not breach RCEP, potentially pointed at requirements in new US deals? 2) RCEP General Review & digital trade, would upgrading digital trade rules conflict with US deals?

Lots being written on the US deals with Malaysia, Cambodia, etc. Some of this drafting is interesting - this provision just refers to "certain countries". Assume the details will be agreed later?

ASEAN announces substantial conclusion of Digital Economy Framework Agreement negotiations, including provisions on data flows, e-payments, MLETR, personal data, and AI cooperation. Looking forward to seeing the text! asean.org/asean-econom...

The ASEAN Geoeconomics Task Force is preparing “a report that will assess the impact, key risks and opportunities arising from external uncertainties, formulate policy recommendations for Asean to navigate these challenges, and coordinate responses” theedgemalaysia.com/node/775211

The 9th CPTPP Commission meeting is coming in just a few weeks in Melbourne. This includes an EU-CPTPP Dialogue (www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...) and an ASEAN-CPTPP Dialogue (www.oananews.org/node/707155). It will be interesting to see what statements/outcomes result from each...

IPEF is still a thing! South Korea is hosting a "joint drill on responding to a possible global supply chain crisis" as chair of IPEF's Supply Chain Crisis Response Network www.koreaherald.com/article/1059...

I do like how much China has attached "RCEP" to so many events and things - here is an announcement about the "RCEP Member States World Heritage Cooperation Alliance" consisting of Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam en.people.cn/n3/2025/1018...

Bangladesh's RCEP accession application moves forward thefinancialexpress.com.bd/national/ban...

"Piyush Goyal signals clear shift away from competitor countries in India's FTA agenda" www.livemint.com/economy/reca...

International rule of law news: Viet Nam joins the MPIA (alternative to the WTO Appellate Body). WTO notification here: docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages... European Commission press release here: policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-welc...

New Zealand and Singapore continue to innovate on trade front, now announcing a new Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies: mfat.govt.nz/AOTES

Perfect halloween costume: www.spirithalloween.com/product/adul... (via @marginalrev.blogsky.venki.dev)

Great post by @simonlester.com warning of the dangers of the shift to securitization of trade policy: ielp.worldtradelaw.net/2025/10/bewa... See also this recent East Asia Forum article on how security concerns are reshaping economic cooperation eastasiaforum.org/2025/10/04/s...

Just took a look at the text the EU proposed in its CEPA with Indonesia (on left) - took a new approach of recognising transmissions as services (so in one way broader than CPTPP language, on right) circabc.europa.eu/ui/group/092... No guarantee Indonesia accepted this of course. 1/2

Indonesian Trade Minister says Hong Kong identified as a priority economy for accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) theedgemalaysia.com/node/771595

Lots of bits of interest in the RCEP Ministers' Joint Statement: (1) 2027 General Review is coming; (2) Seeming acceptance that RSU is doing the work of an RCEP Secretariat (?); (3) There was a "Report of the RCEP Dialogue on Electronic Commerce" organised by Japan... 1/2

Looking forward to reading the EU-Indonesia CEPA text - particularly on digital. The outcomes factsheet suggests Indonesia has bound its commitment first made to the US to not impose duties on electronic transmissions... (a step towards the JSI?) policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-rel...

The UK has published a review of its 2022 Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore, good to see countries not just leaving these agreements in a draw but actively seeing how they can be improved upon and better utilised www.gov.uk/government/p...

Malaysia's Trade Minister says the RCEP Summit in October will look at accessions and an upgrade (ASEAN Economic Ministers and partners, including USTR Greer, are meeting in KL this week) www.reuters.com/world/china/...

India to agree to non-discriminatory treatment of digital products rule in US deal? ecoti.in/eA5Cra89 via @economictimes

Singapore Trade Minister "Gan noted that there is 'no going back' to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) system of the 1990s. Yet, abandoning trade rules [would be] altogether would be far more damaging." mothership.sg/2025/09/gan-...

Update on CPTPP ISDS dispute with Mexico: "Almaden Announces Calendar for Arbitration Process with Mexico" www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/ma...

China: "China to further open up digital trade sectors: commerce ministry... China will also implement its negative list for cross-border services trade and continuously raise the level of opening up in digital trade." english.www.gov.cn/news/202509/...

IPEF hopes still spring eternal? www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/pen...

Korea Begins Strategic Review for CPTPP Membership www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/article...

India needs to bring down tariffs to ASEAN level and join RCEP, says member of Economic Advisory Council to PM 👀 ecoti.in/K4PwoY

Trump's 'Pocket Rescission' includes cuts to US contributions to international organisations - including "$29 million to the toothless World Trade Organization (WTO), which has for decades aided and abetted global trade cheating by the Chinese Communist party." www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-st...

India and Japan Fact Sheet on Economic Security Cooperation includes a reference to IPEF - www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/... #IPEFstillathing (One Indian journalist suggesting its a snub at Trump - theprint.in/diplomacy/sn...)

Singapore, UAE, New Zealand and others to launch trade partnership - the Future of Trade and Investment Partnership (FIT-P) www.ft.com/content/d233... via @financialtimes.com

Australia's Treasurer suggests he is "open" to reviewing AUSFTA investment commitments that allow investments from the US of up to $1.46 billion without screening www.afr.com/companies/ag...

Macron wants EU to target US Big Tech after new Trump tariff threat www.politico.eu/article/emma...

Australia looking to scrap hundreds of “nuisance” tariffs www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/ti...

M’sia to hold RCEP Summit in October, says PM - https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2025/08/27/msia-to-hold-rcep-summit-in-october-says-pm