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US still hopes to conclude Thai-US FTA
10-Jun-2005
The US still hopes to conclude a long-awaited U.S.-Thailand free trade agreement despite a number of unsettled issues, including the liberalization of the Thai financial sector, US Ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce said Friday.
Free trade, the new con trick
7-Jun-2005
It is two years since the US and Australia signed a so-called free trade agreement, and it is nearly 60 years since George Orwell introduced the concept of "newspeak", which describes how politicians often subvert language to make it mean the opposite of what it says.
US has stake in Japan-Mexico FTA
7-Jun-2005 IATP Trade Observatory
The agreement deserves particular attention in the U.S., not only because it offers insights into future Japanese FTAs, but also because of its long-range implications for integration of North American and Japanese markets.
US cautions EU over Syria deal
6-Jun-2005 Al Jazeera
Washington has urged the EU to hold off on signing a trade and aid pact with Syria, citing its doubts that Damascus withdrew all intelligence agents from Lebanon and was allowing fighters to enter Iraq.
No FTA talks until Seoul resumes beef imports: US
6-Jun-2005
US Trade Representative Rob Portman on Friday said Korea must resume import of U.S. beef and lift a screen quota that disadvantages Hollywood films if it wants to start negotiating a free trade agreement with Washington.
FTA to allow Morocco export non-Moroccan textile products to USA
6-Jun-2005
The free trade agreement signed between Morocco and the USA will grant Morocco a waiver from the normal rules of origin and allow the kingdom export textile products from less developed African Sub-Saharan countries.
Atiyya: FTA agreements with the US will not hinder GCC march
5-Jun-2005
The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al Atiyya, has said that the next GCC summit in Abu Dhabi would boost the GCC march and joint economic work, particularly in the area of ensuring the implementation of the customs union and expediting steps towards the implementation of a Gulf Common Market.
Gulf Arab states exclude US from collective trade agreements
5-Jun-2005 AFP
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have agreed to exclude the United States from collective trade agreements, allowing members to strike bilateral free trade deals with Washington, the Kuwaiti foreign minister said.
FTA delay hits garment industry - Bahrain
4-Jun-2005
Bahrain’s beleaguered garment industry will face additional pressure from a move being presently considered by the American government to sign trade agreements with 16 countries that will allow major garment industry hubs such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to move more finished garments to US buyers with reduced or no customs duties.
Will CAFTA be a boon to farmers and the food industry? NAFTA’s failed promises are doomed to be repeated
3-Jun-2005 Economic Policy Institute
Promoters of the proposed Dominican Republic/Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) have asserted that it will provide significant benefits to the U.S. economy, especially to the agricultural sector. Similar promises were made in the debate on the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1992 and 1993. However, since that time NAFTA has failed to live up to these promises, and similar promises made for CAFTA are even less likely to be fulfilled.
Taiwan needs free trade agreement with US to ward off China: Chen
30-May-2005 AFP
Taiwan desperately needs a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States to protect itself against rival China’s growing economic dominance, the island’s President Chen Shui-bian told a visiting US senator.
Washington insists financial services must be on agenda
30-May-2005 Bangkok Post
Financial-sector liberalisation could undermine efforts to negotiate a Thailand-US free-trade area agreement, according to Finance Ministry officials.
Operators in financial sector opposes FTA with US
30-May-2005 MCOT
Local operators in the financial sector have voiced opposition to the financial liberalization between the United States and Thailand, saying that they would be put at disadvantage since the US financial services are more advanced than Thailand’s.
Egypt-US talks on FTA start next year
29-May-2005 http://egyptelection.com/modules.ph...
Egypt-US negotiations on setting up a free trade area will probably start early next year when the US administration and Congress finishes negotiations with some countries in Central America, US economic sources said.
US supports Vietnam’s WTO bid, works toward FTA
29-May-2005 Thanh Nien News
The United States fully supports Vietnam’s efforts to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), said US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Marine at a press conference in Washington on May 25.
FTA requires backing of Congress
26-May-2005
The Bush administration will do nothing to advance a free trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan unless Taiwan mobilizes a widespread coalition of US businesses in favor of an FTA to lobby Congress to pressure the administration into action, a key US congressman told a Washington symposium on a US-Taiwan FTA on Tuesday.
One big step for free trade (again) with the US
25-May-2005
The long-standing close relationship between the Philippines and the United States may lead us to think that a free-trade agreement between the two countries should come naturally.
Taiwan ready to be free trade partner of US: Vice Minister
25-May-2005
The formation of a free trade agreement (FTA) between Taiwan and the United States will not only create a win-win situation for both, but also will benefit the U.S. by enhancing its presence in other countries, including China, a visiting Taiwan official said Tuesday.
UAE, US make progress on free trade agreement
25-May-2005 Arab News
Negotiations between the UAE and the US on a free trade agreement (FTA) are making progress. Two more rounds of discussions should produce the final draft of an accord, according to a senior US official.
U.S. encourages trade expansion with Arab World
24-May-2005 Yemen Observer
The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has engaged in intensive negotiations with a number of Arab countries to develop bilateral trade agreements which it intends to knit together into a Middle East Free Trade Area by 2013.