bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo
  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

Nicaragua’s Ortega asks US, EU to start free trade ’compensation funds’
1-Mar-2007 IHT
"We have explained to the Europeans that if there is no compensation fund, the association (agreement) would have no future," Ortega told a meeting of businesspeople.
Labor sees Bush trade talks with Congress failing
25-Feb-2007 Reuters
The Bush administration is unlikely to reach a deal with the Democratic-led Congress to salvage free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Peru, the AFL-CIO said on Friday.
Free trade never was, never will be
23-Feb-2007 Lebanon Daily News
Free trade is now and always has been something of a fraud. No one ever advocates, much less implements, real free trade. Markets have to be managed, and everyone knows it. The question is, for whose benefit?
Joseph Stiglitz defends public ownership
7-Feb-2007 Periódico 26
The Nobel prizewinner said he believes neither Colombia nor the United States needs a Free Trade Agreement. “It’s not necessary. One of the problems is that within these treaties there isn’t really much commerce. They are mainly about protection of investments and intellectual property that will make it harder for Colombians to acquire medicines that can save their lives,” Stiglitz said.
Chavez, Morales, Correa bypass US in deals with Iran, China
30-Jan-2007 Bloomberg
Presidents including Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Bolivia’s Evo Morales are bypassing the US in reaching trade accords and strengthening diplomatic and commercial ties with nations that compete with, or are hostile toward, US interests.
US, Japanese bosses call for ambitious trade pact
20-Jan-2007 The News International
Powerful US and Japanese business leaders called Friday for a free-trade agreement to link the world’s two largest economies.
Europe (re)joins the FTA bandwagon
13-Jan-2007 AEI
A view on the similarities and differences between the US and the EU’s FTA strategies.
Happily ever AAFTA
10-Jan-2007 TATT
This year President Bush and the Democratic-led Congress should launch a new Association of American Free Trade Agreements (AAFTA), writes Robert Zoellick in the Wall Street Journal.
Six countries could lose US trade benefits: USTR
21-Dec-2006 Reuters
Six countries — including Brazil, India and Venezuela — could lose duty-free access to the US market for some of their key exports under a revamped U.S. trade program signed into law on Wednesday by President George W Bush, US trade officials said.
The new ’Global Europe’ strategy of the EU: Serving corporations worldwide and at home
3-Dec-2006
Alert to European civil society groups, trade unions and social movements from the Seattle to Brussels Network

    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.