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  1. Negotiations

:: Across the board ::

This section contains news and analysis of sweeping developments that affect the overall push and pull towards FTAs and bilateral investment treaties. This means major trends relating to bilateralism, often with global consequences, and other cross-cutting issues. New developments arising from US politics, the WTO or South-South alliance-building, for instance, are often reported here as they tend to have systemic impacts.

last update: May 2012

Where is globalisation headed?
31-Jan-2026
The shift in globalisation is not just a bump in the road. It signals a deep transformation of the world economy, its political balances and its power relations.
The law of the jungle
29-Jan-2026 Tribune
Trump’s destructive foreign policy not only reveals the emptiness of the liberal ’rules-based order’, but announces a new approach built on military might and open corporate power.
Global civil society statement on Trump’s trade threats
21-Jan-2026 European Trade Justice Coalition
Trump is using tariffs and trade threats to bully other countries in order to maintain US global power. Even though existing trade rules were shaped by US corporations, recently this hasn’t been enough to guarantee US dominance, so Trump is turning to brute force.
Can "geopolitical" tariffs be dealt with through trade deals?
21-Jan-2026 International Economic Law and Policy Blog
A big reason for signing a trade agreement is to get certainty on tariff levels, and if the U.S. can raise tariff levels above the bound rate for geopolitical reasons, that certainty is lost to some degree and the trade agreement is much less valuable.
Webinar: Breaking down Trump’s trade attacks & global solidarity efforts [updated with the recordings]
2-Dec-2025 OWINFS & ETJC
Join us in calling on governments to stop appeasing Trump. Learn how your work fits into this movement and how you can join us in pushing for resistance and creating a better world.
Era of free trade and investment is over, Canada’s PM tells Apec summit
3-Nov-2025 The Guardian
Mark Carney warns Asia-Pacific leaders global economy undergoing profound change, as China’s president mounts defence of free trade.
Did Trump steal our agenda? Why fighting free trade isn’t enough anymore
21-Oct-2025 TNI
As the European Trade Justice Coalition marks 25 years, this reflection asks an unsettling question: how did the right appropriate the language of anti-globalization? It calls on activists to rethink trade, the state, and strategy for a new cycle of struggle.
EU to start talks with trans-Pacific economies to cooperate over free trade
20-Oct-2025 The Mainichi
The European Union will soon enter talks in earnest with Japan and other countries that make up a trans-Pacific partnership to explore cooperation in safeguarding free trade, Japanese and EU officials said.
The global race for free trade agreements since Trump’s return
2-Oct-2025 Reuters
US President Donald Trump’s tariffs have unleashed an unprecedented burst of free trade agreements and negotiations towards them by partners seeking to offset potential lost exports to the United States.
Asean-CPTPP dialogue in November to explore collaboration opportunities, says Zafrul
25-Sep-2025 The Edge Malaysia
There will be a formal dialogue on Nov 20 to explore potential areas of collaboration between Asean and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership pact members.

    Links

  • #A18DoA - Global day of action to defeat free trade and investment treaties
    Website for the global day of action to defeat free trade and investment treaties #A18DoA
  • 21st Century Trade Agreements: Implications for Long-Run Development Policy
    A publication of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The paper examines the policy space available under various free trade regimes for countries pursuing industrial policies for development.
  • Alianza Social Continental
    La Alianza Social Continental es un foro de organizaciones y movimientos sociales progresistas de las Américas, creado para intercambiar información, definir estrategias y promover acciones conjuntas, todo ello encaminado a la búsqueda de un modelo de desarrollo alternativo y democrático, que beneficie a nuestros pueblos
  • ICC
    International Chamber of Commerce
  • Movimientos.org
    A multilingual (English, Spanish, Portuguese) website focusing on social movements and their campaigns, including those against bilateral and regional FTAs.
  • Pambazuka
    In this week’s edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...
  • People over profit
    People Over Profit is a campaign network that unites peoples movements and NGOs across the globe to stop free trade agreements (FTAs) and corporate plunder, launched in October 2016.
  • Peoples Global Action
    In February 1998, movements from all continents met in Geneva to launch a worldwide coordination of resistances to the global market, a new alliance of struggle and mutual support called Peoples’ Global Action against "Free" Trade and the World Trade Organisation (PGA).
  • Regional/Multilateral Integration Agreements
    Selected research papers on regional trade agreements, from internationaleconomics.net
  • SOMO
    SOMO links the negotiations and rules on international trade and investment with the actual conduct of corporations within these rules and agreements.
  • South Centre
    An intergovernmental organisation of developing countries
  • Stop fast track!
    10 days to stop fast track in the United States: Jan 22 - 31 2014
  • Third World Network
    TWN’s website is a good source of information and analysis about what’s happening within the multilateral trade system (WTO, UNCTAD, G77, etc).
  • WorldTradeLaw.net
    WorldTradeLaw.net offers a free library of current trade news and resources; a database of dispute settlement tables and statistics; and a user-friendly search tool for legal texts, and other documents.