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‘S. Korea-US Alliance Manifested in FTA’
7-Jun-2007
The half-century Korea-U.S. military alliance will continue to evolve throughout the 21st century because of the two countries’ ``convergence of national interests’’ beyond security issues, the top U.S. military officer said.
The politics of Asia’s big deals
26-May-2007 Newsweek
The US-South Korea free trade agreement comes at precisely the moment when America’s military presence on the Korean Peninsula is rapidly diminishing, anti-US nationalism in South Korea is growing and China is playing an ever more important leadership role in the region. "This FTA is about countering China," says Yang Sung Chul, a former US ambassador to South Korea, now professor at Korea University in Seoul. "It’s much more significant in strategic than economic terms."
NAFTA: Kicked up a notch
26-May-2007 Spero News
The expansion of NAFTA into the Security and Prosperity Partnership reveals the road ahead for other nations entering into free trade agreements. It is not a road most nations — or the US public — would take if they knew where it led.
Colombia rebels target US trade pact at peace talks
23-May-2007 Reuters
Colombia’s second largest guerrilla movement said on Tuesday it would agree to a cease-fire if the government dropped a free-trade pact signed in November with the United States.
Bipartisan trade deal: USTR "fact sheets"
13-May-2007 USTR
Colombia scandals cloud trade deal - US senator
4-May-2007
Colombia must resolve US concerns about a paramilitary scandal and the unsolved murders of trade unionists if it wants Congress to approve a free trade agreement, a spokesman for the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Thursday.
Raw deal between Washington and Seoul
1-May-2007 FPIF
The US-Korea FTA cannot be seen apart from US-South Korean security ties, the presence in South Korea of more than 30,000 US troops and a 50-year economic relationship that has been heavily weighted towards American interests. From this perspective, the FTA is the fourth attempt by the United States to force its economic will on South Korea over the past half-century. By rejecting it, we can reject the flawed policies of corporate globalization while embracing a new relationship with the Korean people at the same time.
Musharraf for free trade agreement between Pakistan, United States
8-Apr-2007
President General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday stressed the need for initiation of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and the United States to strengthen the bilateral relations by boosting trade and investment links.
Clark’s baggage ensures rock remains on road to trade deal
23-Mar-2007
Here’s my take on what really went down when Helen Clark met George Bush at the White House. The big international agenda - those issues that are really central to the security of the Western world, such as Iraq - was on the table.
Mexico, US presidents promise to extend free trade
15-Mar-2007 People’s Daily
Presidents Felipe Calderon of Mexico and George W Bush of the United States held a series of meetings on Wednesday, promising to extend the free trade agreement between the two nations.
India-EU deal hits political rocks
14-Mar-2007
A planned free trade deal between the EU and India has run into serious difficulties over whether or not it should include clauses relating to human rights and weapons of mass destruction. But anti-poverty campaigners have also argued that an agreement is undesirable as it could potentially reduce India’s control over its own economy.
Japan, Australia strike strategic security cooperation agreement
14-Mar-2007
Japan and Australia agreed Tuesday to expand strategic cooperation in security and defense issues, and to expedite negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two countries.
US Alliance a distinct liability for Australia
26-Feb-2007 Online Opinion
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade report estimated that the benefits to Australia from the US FTA would be $ 9.9 billion over 20 years. That would amount to a mere $26.05 per person per year. Common sense suggests that it would be ridiculous to bargain away Australia’s sovereignty for such a “benefit”.
US "free trade": Death, drugs and despair in Colombia
23-Feb-2007 Huffington Post
The so-called "free trade" deal between Colombia and the US would likely displace hundreds of thousands of poor rural Colombians from their lands, sending them into far deeper economic despair-and forcing many of them to work for the very groups that violently displaced them from their lands. You can not make this agreement—or any similar past agreement—better by tinkering around the edges.
S Korea-US FTA may encourage North Korea to choose non-nuclear path: paper
21-Feb-2007 Yonhap
A US-South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) could show North Korea that economic liberalization would be a better guarantee of prosperity than nuclear brinkmanship, according to a paper re-issued by a conservative think tank on Tuesday.
Murtha sees security threat in trade deal
21-Feb-2007 The Hill
US Rep John Murtha (D-Pa.), a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), is calling elements of a Peru free-trade agreement (FTA) signed by the Bush administration a threat to national security.
Malaysia: Iran deal clouds free trade plans with US
7-Feb-2007 IPS
A free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Malaysia, in its final round this week, has run into opposition from trade unions and also from U.S. lawmakers opposed to an energy deal struck between this country and Iran.
Taiwan asks US to use security law as model for FTA
7-Feb-2007 Channel News Asia
Taiwan has asked the United States to use a special law that commits American defence to Taipei as a framework for forging a free trade agreement between the two economies.
CRS Report for Congress: The US-Panama free trade agreement
5-Jan-2007
For the United States, Panama has long held a strategic military and commercial importance, even as a small trading partner, and an FTA with Panama fits with broader US trade policy.
Go for free trade pact with India after N-deal: US senator
15-Dec-2006 Hindustan Times
An influential Republican senator has asked President George Bush to negotiate a full scale free trade agreement with India following the successful conclusion of the India-US civil nuclear deal.