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Preventing a KORUS FTA train wreck
24-Nov-2011
The train for the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) has not yet left the station. We are the passengers on board, not the tearful ones waving handkerchiefs and seeing them off. We should never have boarded this train to begin with, but now that we have stumbled aboard, we must now do all we can to ensure the train does not derail, and get off before we reach the cliff.
Business leaders urge US, EU consider trade pact
23-Nov-2011
After President Barack Obama’s commitment this month to a transpacific free trade agreement, business leaders in Europe and United States are asking for a similar initiative across the North Atlantic to spur economic growth and create jobs.
Occupy, South Korean activists protest trade deal
23-Nov-2011 DN!
Occupy Wall Street protesters joined with a group of South Korean activists on Tuesday to rally against the so-called free trade deal between Seoul and the United States. The demonstrators rallied outside the South Korean mission in New York.
India deal won’t study asbestos: Analysts
23-Nov-2011 Embassy Mag
Canadian exports of asbestos to India won’t be examined as part of an environmental assessment recently launched in connection with the Canada-India free trade talks, say experts—and that has some calling on the government to widen its scope.
Ruling government scrambles to contain voter backlash
23-Nov-2011 Hankyoreh
Korea’s ruling GNP’s surprise railroading of the ratification of the US FTA on Tuesday stands a strong chance of having an unfavorable impact on the administration due to its “procedural violence.”
Business leaders urge US, EU consider trade pact
23-Nov-2011 Reuters
The private sector Transatlantic Business Dialogue wants Obama and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to agree when the two leaders meet on Monday to explore the idea of negotiating a "TransAtlantic Economic and Trade Pact."
FTA to boost auto industry, hurt drug makers, farmers
23-Nov-2011 Korea Times
The income levels of Korean farmers could be shaved, with the livestock industry in particular taking a severe beating following the implementation of the FTA.
Montenegro signs FTA with Ukraine, expects to join WTO soon
23-Nov-2011
Montenegro’s Economy Minister Vladimir Kavarić and his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Klyuyev signed today in Kyiv the free trade agreement between the two states, which will enable Montenegro to resume its accession negotiations with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and join the organisation in the near future.
Services sector deal with asean bloc stuck
23-Nov-2011
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will reach Bali on Thursday to hold meetings with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and attend the East Asia Summit over the weekend, but a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the 10-member regional bloc remains elusive.
Business groups welcome FTA passage as historic watershed
23-Nov-2011
Business organizations on Tuesday hailed the parliamentary ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement as a major turning point in Korea’s economy and history of trade.
Mexico, Central America Sign Free Trade Agreement
23-Nov-2011
The governments of Mexico and five Central American countries signed in El Salvador a free trade agreement (FTA) that unifies the existing ties in one body.
Opposition parties boycott Assembly sessions in protest of FTA passage
23-Nov-2011
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) vowed Wednesday to boycott all parliamentary sessions in protest of the ruling party’s unilateral passage of the disputed free trade agreement with the U.S.
Massive anti-FTA protests looming
23-Nov-2011
Labor unions, farmers’ groups and progressive civic groups are threatening to stage large-scale protest rallies against the ruling Grand National Party for railroading a free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. through the National Assembly.
Mexico, CentAm to sign single FTA
23-Nov-2011 Prensa Latina
Mexico and the five countries in Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) are expected to sign a Single Free Trade Agreement on Nov. 22, El Salvador’s Ministry of Economy announced.
India, EU finalise give-&-take in FTA
22-Nov-2011 Business Standard
Negotiations for the ambitious India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) is on in “full steam” and in the final stages of “give-and-take”, even as the euro zone crisis has gripped all its 27 member-countries.
Malaysia hopes to sign several FTAs by end-2012
22-Nov-2011 Bernama
Malaysia is actively participating in free trade agreement negotiations and is optimistic of signing several FTAs by end-2012, says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
Seoul votes a chaotic yes to free trade with US
22-Nov-2011 NY Times
Members of President Lee Myung-bak’s governing party, coughing from tear gas sprayed by an opposition legislator, rammed a free-trade agreement between South Korea and the United States through Parliament on Tuesday, ratifying a deal that has sharpened a political divide between the government and the opposition and between big business and voters unhappy with deepening economic inequality.
Korea’s National Assembly Ratifies KORUS FTA
22-Nov-2011
Korean lawmakers ratified the long-pending Korea-United States free trade agreement Tuesday afternoon, about 50 days after the US Congress approved the deal.
As confrontation looms, GNP calls for ISD clarification from DP
22-Nov-2011
The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) placed pressure on the Democratic Party on Monday to state how it would respond if a written agreement for investor-state dispute (ISD) provision renegotiations for the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) were received from the South Korean and U.S. trade officials.
Amendment to Panama FTA appendix approved
22-Nov-2011
The legislature yesterday approved an amendment to the appendix of the Taiwan-Panama free-trade agreement (FTA) allowing Panama to take full control of quota-setting and granting zero-tariff status to all in-quota sugar exports to Taiwan.