Changing Conditions for International Trade - Prospects for the Future

This seminar is the first in a series of recurring seminars in the Gothenburg seminar on international business and trade series, in memory of Professor Claes-Göran Alvstam. Claes was one of the pioneers in Area Studies both for research and education, where he early on came to realize the importance of East and Southeast Asia. He has been a long-term friend of the European Institute of Japanese Studies (EIJS) since the start 30 years ago. With his keen interest in EU-Japan trade relations, he has actively been involved in many of the Stockholm Seminars on Japan series, that in November last year saw its 100th seminar.

Start time: 2023-02-03 at 09:00

End time: 2023-02-03 at 12:00

Location: University of Gothenburg, SEB-salen, Vasagatan 1, Gothenburg

The patterns of international business and trade are in a process of transformation. Trade is more securitized and geopolitical than in a very long time. In order to gain a deeper understanding of these changing conditions and the longer-term effects of this development, the School has invited three qualified speakers to help us understand what is happening in an open seminar. Each speaker will make an introduction, reflecting the main theme from their specific perspectives, followed by a general discussion.

The lessons from Covid and increased geopolitical tensions make countries and business changing their models and supply chains. Furthermore we see the erosion of the multilateral structures regulating international trade, an increase in protectionist measures, and new formats for regional cooperation are gaining ground. These developments have been aggravated by the repercussions of an illegal large scale aggressive war in Europe. This has created incentives for governments as well as for commercial actors to put forward proposals for “friend-shoring” and strategic autonomy. Due to the resulting increased fragility of previously seemingly seamless transnational value chains, some even claim that we are moving from a "globalized" to "regionalized" trade scene. Is this a trend or only a temporary distortion? Are we witnessing the end of globalization?

This development is taking place in a time where the world is facing several common challenges that warrants an effective multilateralism.

To gain a deeper understanding of theses changing conditions for international trade and the longer-term effects of this development, the School of Business, Economics and Law has invited three qualified speakers for an advanced open seminar.

Programme and speakers

Per Cramér - Introduction
Dean, Professor in International Law, School of Business, Economics and Law, Gothenburg

Cecilia Malmström
Former European Commissioner for Trade, Non-resident fellow Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington DC

Anders Ahnlid
Director General, The National Board of Trade, Stockholm

Petros Mavroidis
Edwin B. Parker Professor of Foreign & Comparative Law, Columbia University, New York

Open discussion with the speakers

More information

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