Founded in 2009, the philosophy of Trade, Law and Development (TL&D) has been to generate and sustain a constructive and democratic debate on emergent issues in international economic law and to serve as a forum for the discussion and distribution of ideas. Towards these ends, the Journal has published works by noted scholars such as the WTO DDG Yonov F. Agah, Dr. (Prof.) Ernst Ulrich Petersmann, Prof. Christian Häberli, Prof. Petros Mavroidis, Prof. Mitsuo Matsuhita, Prof. Raj Bhala, Prof. Joel Trachtman, Dr. (Prof.) Gabrielle Marceau, Prof. Simon Lester, Prof. Bryan Mercurio, and Prof. M. Sornarajah, among others. TL&D also has the distinction of being ranked the best journal in India across all fields of law for seven consecutive years by Washington and Lee University, School of Law.

Pursuant to this philosophy, the Board of Editors of Trade, Law and Development is pleased to announce “Reimagining Global Trade: Industrial Policy and Strategic Autonomy in a Changing Global Order” as the theme for its next Special Issue (Vol. XVIII, No. 1).

Over the past decade, the foundations of the global trading system have undergone a profound transformation. The post-war consensus that trade liberalisation, market-led growth, and minimal state intervention would serve as the principal drivers of economic development is increasingly being replaced by a renewed emphasis on industrial policy, strategic autonomy, and economic security. Across major economies, governments are actively deploying subsidies, domestic content requirements, export controls, investment screening mechanisms, and preferential procurement policies to strengthen domestic industries, secure critical supply chains, and advance geopolitical and technological objectives.
 

This resurgence of state-led economic governance has accelerated in response to geopolitical tensions, supply-chain vulnerabilities, climate transition imperatives, and competition in emerging technologies. Measures such as the United States’ CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act, the European Union’s Green Deal Industrial Plan and Critical Raw Materials Act, India’s Production Linked Incentive Schemes, and China’s advanced manufacturing initiatives reflect a broader shift towards strategic economic policymaking. Consequently, international trade is no longer governed solely by traditional principles of market access and non-discrimination; it is increasingly shaped by considerations of resilience, technological sovereignty, national security, and sustainable development.

These developments present significant challenges for international economic law. Existing WTO disciplines on subsidies, national security exceptions, investment regulation, and digital trade were largely designed for an era in which state intervention was comparatively limited. As industrial policy becomes a central feature of economic governance, questions arise regarding the adequacy of current legal frameworks, the future of multilateralism, the proliferation of regional and plurilateral arrangements, and the implications of these shifts for developing economies. Understanding the legal foundations, policy rationales, and institutional consequences of this transformation is essential to assessing the future architecture of global trade and international economic law.