Tariffs and Trade Wars
December 2, 2025
Although the late 20th century ushered in an unprecedented era of international collaboration and harmonization on matters of trade – through institutions such as the World Trade Organization and treaties like the Energy Charter Treaty and NAFTA –, the situation has undergone profound changes since the mid-2010s. The existing global legal framework has faced extensive criticism, efforts to reform the WTO have completely stalled, and even some of its core functions, such as the Appellate Body, have been rendered inoperable. These challenges have been compounded by mounting divisions among the world’s major trading powers: China, the European Union and the United States. Tariffs imposed in apparent defiance of WTO rules, trade wars justified in the name of national interest rather than adherence to the common framework – suffice it to say, the “new world order” of the 1990s is now in deep crisis, at least in the realm of international economic relations.
The purpose of this hybrid symposium is to offer insights into the legal dimensions of this ongoing crisis. The proceedings will be published in a special issue of the Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies.
The symposium is jointly organized by the ELTE Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies, the University of Galway’s LLM in International and Comparative Business Law, and the Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies.
Venue for in-person attendance: ELTE Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Legal Studies, Budapest – ILS Council Room.
13:00 – Opening by Gábor Hajdu & Csongor István Nagy
13:05 – Yao-Ming Hsu: The declining of multilateralism and trade conflicts: a perspective from Asian economic integration
13:15 - Anastasios Gourgourinis: GATT or GABB Redux and the Legality of Trump’s Trade Deals
13:25 – David Gantz: The Impact of Trump's Trade Policies on Future Trade Relations Among the United States, It's Allies and Adversaries
13:35 – Thiago Almeida: Critical Minerals and Trump Tariffs: rare earths retaliations and the bargain power of emerging economies
13:45 – Szilárd Gáspár-Szilágyi: Screening Foreign Investments in the UK. Some Initial Empirical Data.
13:55 – Questions and Discussion
14:10 – Coffee break
14:20 – Zoltán Víg: Has the twilight of free trade agreements arrived?
14:30 – Balázs Horváthy: The end of the rules-based trade order and the future of the WTO
14:40 – Kovács Bálint: Trade wars and state buy-ins: New instruments of competitiveness
14:50 – Gábor Hajdu: The expansion of national security: a new paradigm for international trade law?
15:00 – Questions and Discussion
15:15 – End of the Symposium
Registration: The symposium will have a hybrid format, with join links sent to the registrees. Please register here.