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NAFTA | USMCA

North America Free Trade Agreement | US-Mexico-Canada Agreement

Disastrous TPP being pushed to wrap up by mid September
25-Aug-2015 Economy in Crisis
The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is not dead. Even though talks failed last month in Hawaii and the 12 countries couldn’t come to an agreement, the last few legislative days left are being used up wisely.
Prosperity undermined
23-Aug-2015 Public Citizen
The status quo trade model’s 21-year record of massive U.S. trade deficits, job loss and wage suppression.
Feds appealing NAFTA tribunal decision of Nova Scotia quarry project
20-Aug-2015 CBC
Canada is appealing a potentially expensive decision from a NAFTA tribunal, arguing the tribunal "exceeded its jurisdiction" when it upheld a claim from a New Jersey concrete company, Bilcon, that it was entitled to compensatory damages.
As decision in Mesa v. Canada looms, investor and all three NAFTA parties weigh in on significance of Bilcon
15-Aug-2015 Investment Arbitration Reporter
Following Canada’s loss this March in a NAFTA dispute, Bilcon v. Canada, that decision has prompted a new round of submissions in a separate dispute, Mesa Power Group LLC v. Canada.
A losing proposition
5-Aug-2015 CCPA
The failure of Canadian ISDS policy at home and abroad.
TransCanada may recoup costs from US if Obama rejects Keystone
4-Aug-2015 Bloomberg
A provision in the North American Free Trade Agreement would let the Canadian company TransCanada Corp. recoup some of the $2.4 billion spent on its Keystone XL project
Infographic: Lessons from NAFTA for the Trans-Pacific Partnership
10-Jul-2015 IPS
Two decades of high costs for Mexico’s agriculture, economy, families, and environment
Investor vs. State
3-Jul-2015 Policy Alternatives
Canada is being pummeled by NAFTA corporate lawsuits. Why do we put up with it?
[Planet Money] Trade deal confidential
29-Jun-2015 National Public Radio
Right now hundreds of trade negotiators are preparing for battle over the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. The text of that agreement is locked in a top-secret room in the basement of the Capitol and won’t be released to the public until the deal is done.
Analysis: OceanaGold vs El Salvador: Foreshadowing ’trade’ under the TPP?
25-Jun-2015 TeleSur
The Central American country of El Salvador could be forced to pay US$301 million to Canadian-Australian mining multinational OceanaGold as the two face off in a World Bank investor-state tribunal with proven tendency to favor corporate interests over arguments for protecting national sovereignty, the environment, and human rights.
International Investment Agreements (IIAs): Frequently Asked Questions
28-May-2015 Congressional Research Service
This report for US Congress answers frequently asked questions about US international investment agreements including provisions for investor-state dispute settlement.
Canada just threw a grenade into Elizabeth Warren’s trade fight with Obama
17-May-2015 Huffington Post
Last week, Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver gave a speech in New York arguing that the Volcker Rule — a key tenet of the US’ 2010 banking law — violates the North American Free Trade Agreement. This underscores Senator Warren’s warning that such deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Obama is currently negotiating, jeopardize financial reform.
Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Review of Developments in 2014
13-May-2015 UNCTAD
According to UNCTAD, 40% of all new ISDS cases in 2014 were initiated against developed countries (the historical average is 28%). A quarter of them are intra-EU disputes.
Europe, Mexico to seek new trade pact to deepen North American ties
11-May-2015 Reuters
The European Union and Mexico will launch negotiations towards a new free-trade agreement later this year, as Europe seeks to tie its economy closer to North America following a deal with Canada and efforts to sign an accord with the United States.
The free trade treaty that destroyed Mexico
15-Apr-2015 El Ciudadano
Mexico is the clearest example of the consequences treaties could have on the economic, political and financial life of a nation and its society.
Free trade and Mexico’s junk food epidemic
10-Apr-2015 GRAIN
Food companies are infiltrating, inundating and taking over traditional food distribution channels and replacing local foods with cheap, processed junk foods. Free trade and investment agreements have been critical to their success.
NAFTA increased mass migration to the United States
26-Mar-2015 Criterio
After Mexico, the United States and Canada signed the FTA, in the agricultural sector alone five million workers lost their jobs in Mexico and they were forced to migrate.
NAFTA ruling in Nova Scotia quarry case sparks fears for future settlements
25-Mar-2015 Globe & Mail
A NAFTA arbitration panel has ruled against Canada in a claim by a US company that wanted to develop a quarry in Nova Scotia, although a dissenting member of the panel warned that the decision will be seen as a “remarkable step backwards” in environmental protection.
Oil giants win $17M from Ottawa under NAFTA
13-Mar-2015 The Star
ExxonMobil and Murphy Oil awarded $17.3 million in damages from Canada in investor-rights dispute over research and training funding in Newfoundland and Labrador.
UNCTAD releases review of trends in investment agreements and investor-State dispute settlement
20-Feb-2015 UNCTAD
​In 2014, countries concluded one international investment agreement every other week. Investors continue to use investor-State dispute settlement, but the number of new cases does not reach the record high of previous years.