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Robert Wolfe

@bobwolfe.bsky.social
1.1K followers 333 following 624 posts

Professor Emeritus of Policy Studies, Queen's University, Canada. Most posts on trade policy personal website: rdwolfe.ca

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Reposted by Robert Wolfe
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 17h
Secretary of (Losing) Wars Hegseth rejects meritocracy. He doesn't want a military or service academies filled w/ the best people (no matter what color, gender, orientation, etc.), he wants a military that looks and thinks just like him. It's a recipe for incompetence, a topic on which he's expert.
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Peter Ungphakorn @coppetainpu.bsky.social · 15h
WTO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATIONS. Remember them? Periodically, the chair issues a report saying "We met, we talked, nothing has changed, we'll meet again." This time the chair says he detects "a changing mood". Will this revive the talks? Hmm... Latest report ➡️ docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages...
Screenshot of the main content of the liniked report: headline, subtitle and four paragraphs

1. I present this report on my own responsibility and without prejudice to the positions of delegations or to the outcome of negotiations under the mandate to establish a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications (GIs) for wines and spirits (the "GI Register") in the Special Session of the Council for TRIPS.
2. Since my last written report (TN/IP/36 of 9 December 2025), I have continued my informal engagement with interested GI stakeholders. These exchanges suggest a changing mood. Some stakeholders who initially had limited awareness of the negotiations are now showing growing interest in exploring how a multilateral GI register could be useful in today's context. Their reflections take place against the background of developments in domestic and regional GI protection, trade agreements and WIPO's Lisbon System, including the Geneva Act, as well as emerging issues relating to the internet, domain names and artificial intelligence.
3. While these discussions remain exploratory, some stakeholders are working among themselves to consolidate their ideas and identify possible avenues for moving forward. They recognize that any initiative at the WTO would require engagement with the relevant authorities and WTO delegations. At this stage, no concrete proposals have emerged.
4. I also continue to consider the possibility of holding informal information-sharing sessions to help delegations reacquaint themselves with the history and context of the Special Session and take stock of relevant developments. Such an exercise could be useful, particularly given the considerable time that has elapsed since substantive negotiations last took place. I intend to maintain contact with
interested delegations and stakeholders and encourage Members to explore new ideas that could help create opportunities for renewed engagement within the existing mandate.
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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 29/09/2026
"China has expanded overseas travel restrictions for top AI professionals in private firms to include the families of key personnel, further tightening measures designed to prevent the outflow of critical know-how and information to the U.S." www.japantimes.co.jp/business/202...
japantimes.co.jp
Beijing broadens travel curbs to encompass family of top AI talent in China
That further restricts the freedom of China’s most influential tech talent — a category that encompasses entrepreneurs, researchers and executives.
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Theo Moudakis @theomoudakis.bsky.social · 11h
Please enjoy my cartoon for Thursday's Toronto Star
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Peter Ungphakorn @coppetainpu.bsky.social · 10h
The 🇨🇭 Swiss Football Association has dropped its support for FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Infantino is Swiss. FIFA's headquarters are in Zürich. FIFA: l'ASF retire son soutien au président Gianni Infantino www.rts.ch/sport/footba...
rts.ch
FIFA : l'ASF retire son soutien à Gianni Infantino
Le Comité central de l'Association Suisse de Football (ASF) a retiré son soutien, annoncé en juin 2026, à la candidature de Gianni Infantino pour un nouveau mandat à la présidence de la FIFA. Cette dé...
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Bluesky Fanatic @blueskyfanatic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Trump, "We don't need Canada!" =======================
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Peter Ungphakorn @coppetainpu.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
WTO AGRICULTURE NEGOTIATIONS: Stalled even on how to keep talking, they will need a huge effort if they are to start moving again. One delegation even urged negotiators to tear up their talking points because “they don’t work any more” tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2026/09/29/p...
tradebetablog.wordpress.com
Pessimism reigns as WTO members struggle to kick-start farm talks
Back to school after the summer break, some cling to ‘mandates’ while one warns members’ talking points ‘don’t work anymore’
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Theo Moudakis @theomoudakis.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Please enjoy my cartoon for Wednesday's Toronto Star
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Robert Wolfe @bobwolfe.bsky.social · 19h
can Trump's pettiness get any worse? Probably 😢
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Steven Chase @stevenchase.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Reporter's question: Will LNG Canada Phase 2 be built with Canadian steel or Chinese steel like Phase 1? PM Mark Carney: It will be for them (project owners) to decide
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Robert Wolfe @bobwolfe.bsky.social · 19h
he'd have to get Trump to resign if he wanted to do that
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Micah @rincewind.run · 29/09/2026
no matter how badly donald trump loses the midterms he will never lose them as badly as he has lost canadian elections
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Robert Wolfe @bobwolfe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Cleveland Cliffs, big GOP donors, takes a hit from Trump trade policy also Stelco workers in Hamilton but Canada will not be going cap in hand to Trump any time soon
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Aaron Wherry @aaronwherry.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is pretty cool. (Covers the 50 largest municipalities in Ontario, not just Toronto.)
votecompass.thestar.com
Vote Compass — Ontario Municipal Elections 2026 — Toronto Star
Use this interactive survey designed by political scientists to calculate your alignment with the candidate platforms.
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Robert Wolfe @bobwolfe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Danielle Smith in Alberta, please copy
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Jen Rubin @jenrubin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
WOW
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Robert Wolfe @bobwolfe.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
what is NOT going to happen: “They’re going to come in, and they’re going to say, ‘Sir, we are sorry.’”
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Agathe Demarais @agathedemarais.com · 28/09/2026
Indonesian island of Karimun has become hub for Russian oil exports to Asia • Karimun terminal acts as entry point for Russian oil heading to Asia - with new Indonesian origin • Data show how sanctions policy is constant game of whack 'a mole to close loopholes www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
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Peterson Institute for International Economics @piie.com · 28/09/2026
Alan Wolff was the Nixon administration’s lead international trade lawyer & drafted what eventually became Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. “I have a long history with it. And it’s being misused.” Read the interview with Section 301's author:
cnn.com
Author of America’s tariff statute: Trump’s tariffs are illegal | CNN Business
Ambassador Alan Wolff says President Donald Trump’s novel implementation of America’s tariff law is illegal and runs counter to how Congress intended the presidential power to be used.
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
'Where a typical industrial product might have a few dozen suppliers, an ASML EUV has more than 100,000 parts provided by 200 principal suppliers and 2,000 companies overall." giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Industrial strategy so much harder than monetary policy, Exhibit LXIB
giftarticle.ft.com
ASML chief: ‘There is only one company making those machines’
Christophe Fouquet has built Europe’s biggest business through a total monopoly over the most advanced chipmaking equipment
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Robin MacNab @robinmacnab.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The U.S. auto industry relies heavily on Canada, which is the largest export market for American automakers—larger than the next 10 markets combined fortune.com/2026/09/25/c...
fortune.com
‘U.S. trade policy is damaging the U.S. auto industry’: Canada’s purchase of American cars hits new low as Trump’s tariffs backfire on U.S. automakers | Fortune
In one year, the U.S. share of new vehicles in Canada shrunk from 35.4% to 28.4%, new data shows.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 27/09/2026
PN is celebrating our 5th anniversary next week & to commemorate we're offering a special discounted rate on subscriptions. As an independent journalist, my work is not possible without paid subscribers. If you appreciate my coverage throughout each week, please sign up. I think you'll enjoy PN. Thx
publicnotice.co
Subscribe to Public Notice
Sign up for independent, incisive coverage of US politics and media, right in your inbox five times a week. Click to read Public Notice, by Aaron Rupar, a Substack publication with hundreds of thousan...
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Ben Atkinson, PhD @benatkinsonphd.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Randy Boswell: “...Jason Kenney...told the CBC that the Dominion Society’s mission is ‘clearly un-Canadian, and it needs to be called out. People like me, who are on the right of centre of Canadian politics, have a special obligation to do that.’“ www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/25/o...
nationalobserver.com
Citizens must stand firm against new group touting mass deportation, supremacy of ‘Heritage Canadians’
Free speech? Sure. People are free to put up posters on utility poles expressing their views and promoting their causes — and other people offended by the vile messaging and the polarizing mission beh...
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Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Here’s a topic for discussion: why do states that fight each other also trade with each other? danieldrezner.substack.com/p/reviewing-...
danieldrezner.substack.com
Reviewing Mariya Grinberg’s Trade in War
Or, why do states that fight each other also trade with each other?
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Room empties out at the UN as Netanyahu begins his speech.
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Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke @kevinhorourke.eurosky.social · 23/09/2026
This is a great rant and indicates the degree of alarm felt by journal editors who do not have the resources at present to deal with industrial scale fraud: www.markkoyama.com/p/the-new-ag...
markkoyama.com
The New Age of Academic Fraud
Or the Ottoman Election that Never was
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Max Fawcett @maxfawcett.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It's your stupid president's constant threats to our sovereignty and attacks on our country that did this, not our decision to respond to them. www.latimes.com/business/sto...
latimes.com
Canada's boycott forces the sale of a California winery
As California's wine industry struggles, a family-owned vineyard spanning 3,500 acres is for sale after its exports to Canada dropped 35% in a year.
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Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Trade Secrets today. Meet Hank. Hank was doing well until Trump abolished "de minimis", the $800 tariff-free import allowance. Now Hank's one-man operation is swamped with paperwork and has to pay duties whose level isn't even clear. Hank will vote Democrat in November. as.ft.com/r/6c4f1d86-a...
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Adam Radwanski @aradwanski.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I dug a bit into Carney’s latest plans to fast-track permitting for major projects. The meatiest part is overdue, while some more marginal aspects are more questionable. www.thestar.com/business/opi...
thestar.com
Adam Radwanski: Mark Carney’s sweeping new bill gets one big thing right
Adam Radwanski writes that Mark Carney’s plan to end Canada’s five-year project approval delays is promising, but cluttered by political noise.
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Simon Lester @simonlester.com · 23/09/2026
"Trump administration to welcome up to 17,500 more White South Africans as refugees" I know there's a lot going on, but this should be a bigger deal!
cbsnews.com
Trump administration to welcome up to 17,500 more White South Africans as refugees
The Trump administration is planning to welcome up to 17,500 additional White Afrikaners from South Africa as refugees over the next 12 months, according to a notice sent to Congress.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I know we're all* numb to this by now, but it really needs to be said that any one of the batshit insane tyrant tweets from our special little boy would've led to swift efforts to remove any other previous president.
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Robert Wolfe @bobwolfe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
and then head to Ottawa for another signing?
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Centre for Economic Policy Research @cepr.org · 09/09/2026
New CEPR #ebook! Globalization at the Crossroads: PSE-CEPR Policy Forum Keynotes Isabelle Méjean: 'Trade Policy under Geopolitical Stress' @pantras.bsky.social 'The Remains of the Trade: The US-China Trade War and its Aftermath' Gita Gopinath: 'The Third Wave: Addressing Global Imbalances' #EconSky
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Peter Ungphakorn @coppetainpu.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Here's a bold prediction. Trump will never abolish the UN. He needs the General Assembly so he can shock a global audience annually with his outrageous speeches.
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Jonathan Hepburn @hepburnjc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
WTO data shows that tariffs for certain agricultural product groups have fallen by about 50% between 1996 and 2024, namely for oilseeds, fats and oils; cereals and preparations; and animal products.
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Kate from Kharkiv @kateinkharkiv.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
In Sloviansk, Russians have destroyed yet another architectural landmark, a hospital built in 1901. ​"The building was constructed in 1901. For over a century, lives were saved here. The hospital survived both the First and Second World Wars, but could not withstand the Russian invasion."
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Everything the pro-Trump billionaire Ellison family will now own: Paramount+ CBS CNN Showtime HBO Warner Bros TNT TBS MTV DC Studios Nickelodeon Comedy Central And more... With this comes the power to decide which stories get told, but more importantly, which stories DON'T get told. Shameful.
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Aaron Wherry @aaronwherry.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A month after this, the Conservatives did not lead question period with any questions about trade talks.
cbc.ca
Poilievre asks Carney to recall Parliament to discuss collapsed U.S. trade deal | CBC News
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for Prime Minister Mark Carney to reconvene Parliament to get details on the proposed U.S. trade deal he rejected, and answers on how Canadians will be ...
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Simon Lester @simonlester.com · 22/09/2026
From @devonwhittle.bsky.social: "The CPTPP needs a secretariat. Ministers should take Japan’s offer to host one."
hinrichfoundation.com
The CPTPP needs a secretariat. Japan wants to help. | Article | Hinrich Foundation
The CPTPP has outgrown its current institutional model. Japan’s reported offer to host a permanent secretariat gives members a chance to fix that.
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Robert Wolfe @bobwolfe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
how quickly will their commitment to reform of the multilateral trading system bear fruit? Asking for a friend
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Michelle Cohen @docmcohen.medsky.social · 22/09/2026
Shameful
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 22/09/2026
Opinion: To say that Trump has checked out of the business of governing is an understatement. It would also imply that he had previously checked in. ft.trib.al/KFBc5d4
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Global Affairs Canada @globalaffairs.canada.ca · 22/09/2026
G7 Foreign Ministers’ Statement on Bab al-Mandab and Navigational Rights and Freedoms To read the joint statement:
canada.ca
G7 Foreign Ministers’ Statement on Bab al-Mandab and Navigational Rights and Freedoms
We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, consider that the situation in Yemen represents an unacceptable threat to regional stability and security, to global energy security as well as to navigational rights and freedoms, and maritime security in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait.
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World Trade Organization @wto.org · 22/09/2026
Tariffs applied by WTO members have decreased by a third since 1996
dlvr.it
WTO Blog | Data Blog - Tariffs applied by WTO members have decreased by a third since 1996
Update of data blog first published on 13 April 2023.
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Peter Ungphakorn @coppetainpu.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Marc L. Busch and Petros C. Mavroidis: The WTO should shift to aggregating agreements negotiated elsewhere. "By making dependence on the American market less predictable, they are encouraging countries to construct alternatives. Those alternatives will increasingly originate outside Geneva."
thehill.com
Trump may have breathed new life into the World Trade Organization
The WTO should shift from originating trade agreements to aggregating agreements negotiated elsewhere.
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Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This is your periodic reminder that by far the #1 source of “fake news” in the US is #trump and his press secretaries, with #Hegseth and #RFKJr in a relentless competition for 2nd place.
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Simon Lester @simonlester.com · 19/09/2026
"In [Kushner's] view, it is less important to know a region’s history or the details of the partisans’ negotiating positions than to simply hear the sides out and split the difference." www.newyorker.com/magazine/202... This approach dies not sound promising.
out. Kushner, who is forty-five, has little regard for the craft of diplomacy. In his view, it is less important to know a region’s history or the details of the partisans’ negotiating positions than to simply hear the sides out and split the difference. Peace deals are like real-estate deals, he has said. Both involve hard bargaining and, at times, bluffing. The fact that so many diplomats before him have struggled is a testament not to the intransigence of international problems but to the mediocrity of his predecessors.
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Jarvis Googoo @jarvisgoogoo.com · 19/09/2026
Amazing editorial cartoon by @mackinnonart.bsky.social 😃
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Grudgie the Whale @grudgie.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Psychopaths
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Pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
US elites saying "Canada is being vindictive" without engaging with how this started--the US imposing its will over CA to crush their economy--and then saying "I think Canada is mean and stupid and should instead do as I say" isn't just commentary, it's *the very issue* Canada is hedging against
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