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geopolitics

TPP is a mistake
9-Apr-2015 Forbes
In many respects TPP appears essentially to be coming down to a US-Japan bilateral trade treaty that might complement the US-Japan security treaty, writes Jean-Pierre Lehmann.
US Defense Secretary urges approval of TPP
7-Apr-2015 VoA
US defense chief calls TPP one of the most important parts of the US re-balancing toward Asia-Pacific, including its military relationships.
The flaws in the geopolitical case for the TPP
25-Mar-2015 Financial Times
There is an intuitive appeal to the geopolitical use of trade agreements. But quickly scanning the two main bilateral trade deals the US has signed over the past decade in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia and South Korea, it is hard to see much strategic impact.
White House sees China as trump card in trade debate
27-Feb-2015 Reuters
The Obama administration is confident lawmakers will warm up to a proposed Pacific free trade deal on the grounds it is a chance for the United States, rather than China, to dictate the rules of Asian trade, a top official said on Thursday.
US, EU agriculture leaders try to ease trade concerns
23-Feb-2015 Farm Futures
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack shared the stage with his counterpart EU commissioner Phil Hogan at the US Department of Agriculture’s annual Outlook Forum and discussed TTIP.
How EU-US trade deal could thwart “boycott Israel” campaign
20-Feb-2015 Electronic Intifada
Two members of the US Congress have introduced a bill that would turn a giant trade deal between the EU and US into a devastating weapon against the people of Palestine and all those seeking justice alongside them.
AIPAC behind new US/EU trade legislation designed to thwart BDS
12-Feb-2015 Mondoweiss
AIPAC is behind the draft US legislation that would make the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership being negotiated between the US and EU conditional on whether the EU takes action to stop BDS, according to US sources.
US bill seeks to tie massive trade pact to EU rejection of BDS
11-Feb-2015 Times of Israel
A new US Congressional bill, "The Israel Trade and Commercial Enhancement Act", seeks to make rejection of BDS a requirement for Washington to sign TTIP.
Japan, Mongolia ink trade pact that may increase car exports
10-Feb-2015 AP
Japan and Mongolia signed a free trade agreement Tuesday that is expected to open the landlocked frontier market to more Japanese auto exports and strengthen Tokyo’s leverage with a key partner in its dealings with North Korea.
Debt: Yesterday Latin America, today Europe
9-Jan-2015 Rebelión
Today’s crisis relates neither to trade nor the production of goods and services. It is the banks and the financial sector that are in crisis.
ISDS clause: a gateway to future trade deals
9-Dec-2014 EurActiv
Trade officials negotiating the ISDS arbitration clause within the EU-US trade agreement have half an eye on their next deals, since the wording is likely to shape other key trade treaties on the table.
Beijing, Washington locked in FTA race
6-Nov-2014 China Daily
There appears to be a race between the United States and China to dominate the rules-setting game for trade by being the first to announce plans of realising a Free Trade Agreement for the Asia-Pacific — with billions of dollars in trade at stake.
Departing from TTIP and going plurilateral
17-Oct-2014 Madariaga - College of Europe
European think-tank piece on how TTIP is designed to create a "transatlantic internal market" without the democracy.
European Union drops plan to label oilsands crude ’dirty’
7-Oct-2014 CBC
The European Union has backed off a plan to label oil from Alberta’s oilsands as dirtier than other oils and to make it harder to import.​
Can China and Russia squeeze Washington out of Eurasia?
7-Oct-2014 The Nation
There could soon be a trade alliance between Beijing, Moscow and Berlin—but you wouldn’t know it from the triumphal tone in Washington.
Euro-African trade signifies changing relations
6-Aug-2014 London Economic
From a geopolitical perspective, Europe arguably needs the EPA trade deals with Africa more than Africa does.
China’s surging investment in US heralds new multinational era
4-Aug-2014 SCMP
Chinese investments in the United States now exceed American investments in China in an historic shift that may see the emergence of joint Sino-US multinationals, but one that is also fraught with geopolitical risks, said analysts.
The Japan-Mongolia FTA is about cars, minerals and abductees
23-Jul-2014 The Diplomat
Mining is expected to become a much larger portion of their overall trade, with an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clause instituted to protect companies and allow them to seek compensation if government policy negatively impacts their investments.
Russia to terminate free trade agreement with Ukraine following EU association pact
4-Jul-2014 Voice of Russia
Russia is ready to suspend the free trade zone agreement with Ukraine after the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement comes into effect, Tatyana Golendeyeva, deputy chief of the Russian Federal Customs Service said.
Ukraine signs trade agreement with EU, draws Russian threat
27-Jun-2014 Reuters
Ukraine signed on Friday an historic free-trade agreement with the European Union that has been at the heart of months of violence and upheaval in the country, drawing an immediate threat of "grave consequences" from Russia.