bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo

US

Government reforms face corporate backlash in Honduras
9-Jan-2024 NACLA Report on the Americas
As President Xiomara Castro’s administration works to mitigate the fallout of the post-coup years, transnational companies are lining up to sue the state for lost profits.
India to sign clean, fair economy deal under Indo-Pacific economic framework
9-Jan-2024 Live Mint
India is expected to sign a much-awaited deal on two more pillars of the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework—clean economy and fair economy—early next year.
North Americanism turns 30
8-Jan-2024 Foreign Policy
NAFTA and USMCA have dramatically reshaped Mexico.
Could Costa Rica join USMCA?
5-Jan-2024 Yahoo
Costa Rica’s trade czar wants to solidify the country’s relationships with North America’s biggest markets.
Ecuador says it has won international arbitration, will avoid $198 million payment to Worley
3-Jan-2024 Reuters
Ecuador’s procurator said the country has won an international arbitration and will not be liable to pay $198 million to engineering firm Worley International Services over oil project contracts.
Ugandan delegation meet US gov’t officials over AGOA trade termination
21-Dec-2023 Capital FM
Odrek Rwabwogo, Chairperson of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) and Rwabwogo has urged the US government not use disproportionate force against Uganda whose values and relationship have stayed firm on multiple fronts over the years.
Biden administration to remove four African nations from AGOA
21-Dec-2023 BNN
In a significant policy shift, the Biden administration has announced the removal of Niger, Gabon, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Uganda from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) effective January 2024.
Joe Biden signals he has no interest in signing US-UK trade agreement
19-Dec-2023 The Guardian
Ministers have given up on signing a trade agreement with the US before the next election, after the Biden administration signalled it had no interest in agreeing one.
AGOA – time to lock in a long-term renewal for the benefit of Africa and the US
19-Dec-2023 Tralac Newsletter
Since May 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has provided duty-free access for a broad range of products from eligible African countries to markets in the United States (US). Since the current arrangement expires in September 2025, we take this opportunity to provide an update on AGOA.
LNG firm’s $20-billion lawsuit against Canada exposes NAFTA’s toxic legacy
15-Dec-2023 Canada’s National Observer
A company launched a record-breaking NAFTA lawsuit against Canada — confirming the dire threat that investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) poses to bold climate action.
Why is Biden endorsing corporate colonialism in Honduras?
15-Dec-2023 LPE Project
The stakes for Honduras are not simply the billions of dollars otherwise destined for health, housing, and education. They are the very existence of Crawfish Rock: the past and future of the families who have inhabited the island for centuries.
Biden should abolish secretive corporate tribunals that bypass the law
13-Dec-2023 The Nation
A legal regime known as investor-state dispute settlements erode environmental regulation and increase fossil fuel industry profits.
Mexico must stand up to agribusiness oligopolies on GM corn ban
13-Dec-2023 Inequality.org
US and Canadian civil society groups are denouncing their own governments’ efforts, driven by the agribusiness industry, to repeal Mexico’s proposed ban on genetically modified corn.
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework chats expected to continue in 2024
13-Dec-2023 Brownfield
The chief ag negotiator in the Office of the US Trade Representative says discussions on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework are expected to resume in the New Year.
US ’beginning’ internal discussions about renewing North American trade pact
11-Dec-2023 CBC
We’ve just passed the halfway mark, three years, to the sixth-anniversary milestone of the new North American trade deal where countries must start meeting to discuss future changes.
AGOA isn’t the political leverage Washington thinks it is
5-Dec-2023 Ventures
AGOA is not a big enough economic carrot, as Washington would have the world believe, and that poses major challenges to US foreign policy going forward.
The US push for GMO corn is out to lunch
4-Dec-2023 Common Dreams
So-called “Free trade” promises lower prices and more supply, but it derails food security. Mexico has been fighting this since the United States began a dispute over genetically modified corn.
When investors subvert states
1-Dec-2023 Project Syndicate
The ongoing lawsuit brought against Honduras by an American company underscores the unjust and undemocratic nature of the investor-state dispute settlement system.
Trudeau government claims victory in latest trade dispute with US over dairy
27-Nov-2023 CBC
Americans argued Canada’s allocation of tariff-free dairy import permits is unfair.
Kenya’s hurdles in trade negotiations with United States
21-Nov-2023 The Standard
American President Joe Biden recently pledged to make Nairobi the investment magnet in Africa. For this to happen, Kenya and the United States must make considerable progress towards a bilateral trade deal under the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) framework.