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bilateralism & multilateralism

The ’free trade’ explosion
14-Sep-2006 India Together
With the World Trade talks in limbo, the focus remains on aggressively pushing on the bilateral front. What could not be achieved through a multilateral trade regime, is now being pursued by the US through bilateral and regional deals. Devinder Sharma connects the dots.
Bilateral trade pacts not in EU interest - presidency
9-Sep-2006
Bilateral trade deals are not in the interests of anyone, EU President Finland said on Friday, in the first public criticism of European Commission plans to seek one-on-one pacts with Asian countries.
UN trade official Supachai says yuan issue requires global readjustment
6-Sep-2006
Imbalances related to China’s foreign exchange policies cannot be addressed by China alone and require an international effort, Supachai Panitchpakdi, head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.
WTO’s Lamy warns over China’s pursuit of separate free trade agreements
6-Sep-2006
WTO chief Pascal Lamy on Wednesday warned that China’s pursuit of separate bilateral and regional free trade agreements would harm its long-term commercial interests.
Singapore’s FTAs are standby if global trade talks fail: MM Lee
5-Sep-2006 Channel News Asia
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has explained that Singapore’s free trade agreements with the countries it has sealed with so far are a stand by if the Doha round of multilateral talks does not succeed.
UK opposition leader proposes EU-India free trade deal
5-Sep-2006 XFN-ASIA
The leader of the UK’s main opposition Conservative Party, David Cameron, has proposed the idea of an EU-Indian free trade pact if the Doha round of global trade talks fails.
September 10: La Via Campesina calls for mobilisations against neoliberalism all around the world
30-Aug-2006
The deadlock of the WTO is good news for the people and the movements that have been opposing its policies for years and an opportunity to put forward our alternative agenda. At the same time we have to give more attention to the Free Trade Agreements negotiated between countries or regions.
The rush to bilateral pacts: Throttling trade while trying to promote it
23-Aug-2006
A plethora of Asian beggar-thy-neighbor agreements threatens to throttle global trade in the name of trying to save it.
Investment provisions in economic integration agreements
23-Aug-2006 UNCTAD
The growing proliferation of economic integration investment agreements (EIIAs) has led to a multilayered and multifaceted web of investment rules.
Patent or patient? How Washington uses trade deals to protect drugs
23-Aug-2006 Financial Times
The controversy over the impact of bilateral trade agreements on public health poses particular difficulties for the Geneva-based WHO, which is gearing up for the highly political election of a new director-general.
US trade sanctions seek to pressure Latin America
23-Aug-2006 IRC Americas Program
The US government’s announcement that it will review the possibility of limiting, suspending, or withdrawing trade preferences under the General System of Preferences (GSP) to three Latin American countries—Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela—is political pressure to make these nations participate in the model of regional integration proposed by the United States.
Impasses probables dans les négociations internationales : Le fameux Plan B du ministre «Decroix»
22-Aug-2006 Le Quotidien
Le Sénégal ne voit plus, semble-t-il, le besoin de poursuivre les négociations commerciales internationales si les choses n’évoluent pas.
Could US firms be left in the cold?
22-Aug-2006
US enterprises are chafing at the bit to get into Vietnam, yet many business heads are concerned that if Congress does not establish permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with their former foe, then firms from other countries will have a trade advantage.
Japan must act amid trade talk rubble
21-Aug-2006
The World Cup of soccer wrapped up last month on an uncertain note. The unfortunate incident between French star Zinedine Zidane and Italian Marco Materazzi left an unsavory taste in the mouths of spectators worldwide. But there was probably a more significant though less closely watched international competition going on that month which may have resulted in all nations losing out.
Free trade pacts more dangerous than WTO - IBON
20-Aug-2006 IBON Foundation
In the wake of the collapse of the Doha talks in the World Trade Organization (WTO), negotiations for the Philippines to enter into an Asia-Pacific free trade agreement (FTA) have become more urgent for industrialized countries. But independent think-tank IBON Foundation warns that entering into an FTA could be even more dangerous than liberalization under the WTO.
When free trade sinks into the ’noodle bowl’
17-Aug-2006 IHT
FTAs are supposedly meant to substitute for lack of progress at the WTO. In practice they are mostly preferential arrangements that run counter to APEC’s principle of "open regionalism," which allows members to pursue liberalization at their own pace but on a nondiscriminatory basis.
Plan B for world trade
16-Aug-2006 Financial Times
The indefinite suspension of the Doha round of world trade talks creates big risks for the world economy. A new explosion of discriminatory bilateral and regional agreements is likely to substitute for global liberalisation, eroding the multilateral rules-based system of the World Trade Organisation.
Negotiate, negotiate and negotiate
16-Aug-2006 Gulf News
The EU has brought up new subjects that "hasn’t really made the GCC side too happy" in terms of delaying the EU-GCC FTA negotiations. "You saw the negotiations being filled with all kinds of issues that really shouldn’t have been a part of an FTA agreement: human rights, political reform and (anti-) terrorism strategies."
Goff: The current state of trade negotiations
16-Aug-2006 Scoop
New Zealand has never put all its eggs in one basket and has always maintained an active regional and bilateral agenda, parallel to the WTO. In current circumstances, that is likely to intensify.
Doha lull ‘gives SA time to finalise policy’
10-Aug-2006
The stalled Doha negotiations would give SA a valuable opportunity to strengthen technical consultation and tighten relations in the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) before the trade talks were resumed, SA’s chief trade negotiator, Xavier Carim, said yesterday.