News Snapshot:
There is nothing like trade talks to expose divisions between countries, and the current round of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) talks between India and Australia is revealing some large cracks. First, Australia is averse to ‘early harvest’ deals and to taking in more Indians. Both have to happen if the CECA deal is to happen. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has a dominant bias towards “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”—that is, a complete Free Trade Agreement (FTA) or nothing. The question is, against this background, can they effectively negotiate early harvest deals, something they...
