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NAFTA

North America Free Trade Agreement

Stopping the race to the bottom in trade policy
23-Mar-2021 The American Prospect
Agribusiness giant Bayer/Monsanto claims that Mexico’s proposed restrictions on the active ingredient in its Roundup herbicide violate the country’s trade agreement with the US.
Will new NAFTA block Biden’s progressive regulatory policies?
22-Mar-2021 The Hill
Biden is on the right track in calling for reform. But if the same deregulatory agenda remains in our internationally enforceable trade agreements, Biden’s reforms will come up short, ultimately subverting his agenda and vision.
Trade agreements like NAFTA are a menace to democracy
5-Mar-2021 Jacobin
Free-trade agreements enable companies to sue governments if they interfere with profit-making activities, no matter how destructive. These trade deals put us in an antidemocratic straitjacket — it’s time we got rid of them.
Canadian miner First Majestic wants to resolve its tax dispute with the SAT with international arbitration
3-Mar-2021 MRT
Canadian mining company First Majestic Silver Corp submitted a request for arbitration based on NAFTA, due to the tax debt and its differences with the Mexican government.
US trade nominee says Mexico-Canada pact is priority
25-Feb-2021 UrduPoint
US trade representative nominee Katherine Tai has said implementing the new free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico will be a priority.
Mexican social media plan violates North America trade deal, industry says
10-Feb-2021 Reuters
A Latin American social media industry group that includes Facebook and Twitter said a reform in Mexico would violate an international trade pact, in swift backlash to a draft bill that seeks to regulate social media platforms.
Q&A: Int’l arbitration expert on Alberta’s threat of ’slam-dunk’ case v. USA over Keystone veto
8-Feb-2021 West Law
Alberta’s Premier said that the Canadian province, which has an equity in the now-canceled Keystone XL pipeline, may seek compensation under investor-protection provisions still in effect under NAFTA
US Chamber slams Mexico power bill as breach of USMCA trade pact
8-Feb-2021 Reuters
The bill gives preference in electricity distribution to the state-run Comision Federal de Electricidad and seeks to eliminate its obligation to buy electricity through auctions.
Biden to focus on trade enforcement after years of Trump tariffs
1-Feb-2021 Bloomberg
President Joe Biden’s administration is setting up its trade policy to prioritize enforcement of existing commitments by the US’s partners over negotiating more deals to open new export markets.
Table of foreign investor-state cases and claims under NAFTA and other US “trade deals”
28-Jan-2021 Public Citizen
ISDS tribunals have ordered governments to pay corporations more than $989 million in compensation after ISDS attacks launched just under U.S. agreements.
Keystone XL legal risks highlight dangers of putting investors before climate change
26-Jan-2021 The Conversation
The owner of Keystone XL — TC Energy (previously TransCanada) — used NAFTA to launch a US$15 billion lawsuit in 2016 after President Barack Obama cancelled the project.
Canada scrambles to salvage Keystone XL as Biden prepares to kill troubled pipeline project
19-Jan-2021 Reuters
Alberta believes there was a “very solid” legal basis to seek damages under international free trade agreements if the pipeline is effectively killed, said Alberta Premier
Free trade is killing American manufacturing
27-Nov-2020 Industry Week
The real winners of free trade are the wealthy in all of the trading countries—not the citizens, workers, or manufacturing.
Trade agreements are a powerful piece in the geopolitical chess game
28-Oct-2020 The San Diego Union Tribune
Trade agreements can be as powerful as military force for achieving a country’s strategic objectives.
US chemical industry overreaches by invoking USMCA
19-Oct-2020 The Hill
The plastics industry is using the promise of its future voluntary cooperation to postpone or bar more effective regulatory measures - relying on language in the USMCA to make its case.
Neoliberal obesity and coronavirus in Mexico
21-Sep-2020 Al Jazeera
American capital brought high rates of chronic disease to Mexico which has led to a surging COVID-19 death toll.
AFL-CIO chief says union to file labor complaint under USMCA this month
4-Sep-2020 Reuters
The AFL-CIO is planning to file labor complaints against Mexico this month under the new US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement’s labor enforcement mechanism, the US union’s president said.
Farmers impacted by USMCA trade agreement
2-Sep-2020 NBC2
The USMCA trade agreement under President Trump is negatively impacting local farmers, but economists said the agreement assures low priced produce in stores.
A Canadian mining company is threatening to sue Mexico to avoid paying taxes... and is asking Canada to help them do it
13-Jul-2020 Council of Canadians
Already, Mexico’s progressive reforms have made it an ISDS target. First Majestic, a Canadian silver mining company has been threatening Mexico for the last few years, under NAFTA’s Chapter 11.
Will the new NAFTA make the pandemic worse for Mexicans?
13-Jul-2020 Foreign Policy in Focus
For Mexican workers, farmers, and the poor, the pandemic and the new treaty replacing NAFTA are a devastating one-two punch.