This week independent power producer Marubeni and LO3 Energy said they have started a pilot project in Japan where LO3 will administer an energy marketplace using blockchain to connect a number of Marubeni’s power production facilities, including renewables, with offices and factories around Japan in a virtual marketplace. The project will simulate energy transactions to test the viability of the concept with the ultimate goal of creating a full-scale commercially operational network in the future.

Clearway Energy Group, one of the U.S.’s largest clean power developers, is launching a pilot electronic marketplace for renewable energy credits as more states push for solar and wind projects.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted — unanimously — to move ahead in its investigation of Taiwanese imports of solar PV products, continuing the latest storyline in the broad U.S.-vs.-China solar trade war.

California and Quebec, which together created the largest carbon market in North America this year, may come away empty-handed as they woo northeastern U.S. states to join their system.

What do the following have in common: New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Quebec, Alberta, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, California, Beijing, Guangdong, Hubei, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Tianjin, Tokyo, Kyoto, Saitama and 28 countries in Europe?

Austrade has strengthened its partnership with Australia’s cyber security Industry Growth Centre, AustCyber – enhancing support for Australia’s cyber security ecosystem.

Austrade has partnered with the NSW Government to deliver one of the largest business missions from Guangdong Province ever to visit Australia.

View a listing of all the 'Latest from Austrade' articles for 2020.

Government support for Australia’s defence industries is on the increase, as two government agencies extend collaboration.

While light is finally appearing at the end of the COVID-19 crisis tunnel, the Australian Government is working closer than ever before with states and territory governments, education providers and community organisations, to deliver support measures for our international student community.

Austrade will provide weekly regional updates on the progression and impact of COVID-19 around the world, to support the international education sector as the situation continues to evolve. These reports are compiled using the latest on-the-ground information and advice.

While light is finally appearing at the end of the COVID-19 crisis tunnel, the Australian Government is working closer than ever before with states and territory governments, education providers and community organisations, to deliver support measures for our international student community.

Austrade will provide weekly regional updates on the progression and impact of COVID-19 around the world, to support the international education sector as the situation continues to evolve. These reports are compiled using the latest on-the-ground information and advice.

Australian exporters will soon start reaping the benefits of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), with Australia receiving formal notification that Indonesia has completed its domestic ratification processes.

The EU will insist on progress on fisheries and level-playing fields, in talks with Britain on their future relationship, parallel to the trade deal, Ireland's foreign minister Simon Coveney said Monday after talks with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier. Negotiations have stalled as the UK pushes for sectorial, streamlined agreements, while the EU wants a comprehensive deal. June is the deadline for any extension to the December 2020 exit date.

California and Quebec, which together created the largest carbon market in North America this year, may come away empty-handed as they woo northeastern U.S. states to join their system.

Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that 12 IP lawyers from our global practice have been recognized in the 2020 World Trademark Review’s “World’s Leading Trademark Professionals” list. Now in its tenth year, the WTR ...

In every crisis, there will be those who seek to get the most out of it. To that end, there has recently been a raft of trade mark applications worldwide seeking to register trade marks related to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), including ...

After more than 10 years of European legal protection for employees in the event of a relevant transfer, many aspects of the Transfer of Undertakings Directive 2001 (Council Directive 2001/23/EC) and its predecessor have by now been litigated over a...

By Marcus Noland HONOLULU (August 23, 2019)—For three generations, the United States championed a rules-based multilateral trading system. That stance was overturned by the election of an avowed protectionist, Donald Trump, as president. It would be understandable for Asians to wonder if this shift amounts to a permanent change in U.S. trade policy, and if so, how to proceed. Trump’s presidential campaign was notable in that it emphasized two issues—immigration and trade—that had seldom been in the forefront of U.S. presidential campaigns. But public opinion polls revealed that these issues were of growing importance to a sizeable number of voters whose preferences mirrored Trump’s protectionist positions.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

The annual report published by BIS on trade union membership has just been published and contains new statistics for 2010. As in previous years, it tracks an ongoing decline in trade union membership levels and, similarly, a fall in the number of em...

The buzzword for the post-Brexit landscape both in Europe and further afield is ‘uncertainty’. No-one really knows the long term effect that Brexit will have on local and global economies. However, as the dust settles following the ...

The various market associations in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja on Friday met with the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, and pledged their support for the efforts of the administration in containing the spread of COVID-19 in the Territory. They made the pledge when a delegation from the Committee of Chairmen and Secretaries […]

COVID-19 lockdown: Abuja traders meet FCT Minister, make demands

Farmers in Afghanistan are growing poppies in government-controlled areas, insisting that there are no real economic alternatives to cultivating the flowers for the opium trade. It's estimated that Afghanistan's poppy fields are the source for much of the world's illegal heroin supply.

European Commission aims to level the playing field between suppliers and large customers by introducing recommendations on unfair trade practices The European Commission recently adopted a Communication encouraging EU Member States to look at ways ...

The Act of 15 December 2016 on Counteracting Unfair Use of Contractual Advantage in Trade of Agricultural and Food Products came into force and effect on 12 July 2017. The law confers additional powers on the President of the Office of Competition a...

For listed and traded UK companies with a 31 December year end, the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential  for further tightening of restrictions on gatherings and travel in the UK raise particular issues as they enter into reporting and AGM seas...

The protection of trade secrets has been on the European legislator’s agenda since 2011. It was felt that the lack of harmonisation in this field is very disadvantageous for cross-border innovation in Europe. After the initial report requested...

On 12 August this year, the Insurance Act 2015 will introduce the most significant changes to insurance law in 110 years – how will it affect the shipping industry? The Act applies to all insurance policies taken out by businesses which are subject ...

Introduction Following the declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 30 January of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in response to the coronavirus crisis (please see our last briefing here), the vi...

Introduction Following the declaration by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 30 January of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) in response to the coronavirus crisis (please see our last briefing here), the vi...

Border Closure Update In an attempt to stem the virus outbreak in Europe, a number of European Union (EU) and Schengen zone Member States exercised their right to temporarily re-introduced border controls between themselves and other Member States. ...

Turkey’s longest-running traditional sports event, Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling competition, has started in the northwestern province of Edirne. The annual event, which is organized for the 657th time this year, attracts thousands of people. Click through for the story in photos...

Venezuela's Chief Prosecutor Tarek William Saab said his office has requested arrest warrants against U.S. military veteran Jordan Goudreau as well as Jose Rendon and Sergio Vergara, two Venezuelans accused of involvement in a failed armed incursion earlier this week aimed at overthrowing the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

On 2 October 2019, the World Trade Organisation (“WTO”) ruled that the U.S. that the tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of goods imported from the EU imposed by the U.S. in response to the EU’s unlawful subsidies to Airbus were authoris...

Health protocols relating to the coronavirus pandemic will be put in place to deal with he new traffic.

This signals an increase in pressure on Jordan to extradite Ahlam Al-Tamimi, who facilitated the bombing of a Jerusalem Sbarro restaurant that killed 15 people, including two Americans, in 2001.

How to approach Christmas with a Christ-honoring attitude is a vexing question for many believers. Should we embrace the various traditions or be antagonistic toward them? Should we vigorously participate or cautiously hesitate?

The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the importance of implementing China’s agreement to buy US$200 billion of US goods – a key aspect of the interim trade deal between the two sides, sources familiar with the talks have said.US President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw from the agreement if China fails to live up to its commitment over the next two years.In a phone conversation between the lead negotiators on Friday, Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He and US Trade Representative Robert…

Top Chinese and US trade negotiators will speak as soon as next week on progress in implementing a phase one deal after US President Donald Trump threatened to “terminate” the agreement if Beijing was not adhering to the terms.Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He will be on the call, according to people familiar with the matter. The US will be represented by US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer, one of the people said.The planned phone call will be the first time Liu and Lighthizer speak…

These days, as Wilson Mak drifts off to sleep after another 14-hour day at a New York funeral home, images of Covid-19 victims flash through his mind.“When I close my eyes, I still see those ugly sights,” says Mak, manager of Ng Fook Funeral Services in New York City. “It’s unbearable.”Ng Fook’s four funeral homes in the city’s various Chinese communities are a microcosm of an overwhelmed industry as corpses pile up in hallways, trucks and makeshift morgues across hotspots of the disease in the…

Top trade negotiators from the United States and China spoke by phone on Friday and vowed to continue to support the phase one trade deal, Chinese state media reported, in their first contact since the agreement was signed in January.On the call, China’s Vice-Premier Liu He, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “vowed to implement their trade deal and boost cooperation on public health”, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.The officials said…

Hong Kong authorities have seized 34 tonnes of American ginseng worth HK$47 million (US$6 million) and arrested seven people in what is by far the biggest-ever bust of its kind in the city.The haul breaks a record set less than three months ago, when more than three tonnes of the traditional Chinese medicine valued at about $HK4.6 million were seized in February.Police and customs officers discovered a “suspicious-looking” fishing boat to the northeast of Hong Kong’s international airport on…