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

US officials eye next steps on trade with Europe, Japan, NAFTA partners
28-Apr-2017 ICTSD
The past weeks have seen a flurry of trade activity in Washington and beyond, including a trip by US Vice President Mike Pence to Asia; meetings between top American and European trade officials; and an escalation in the US-Canada row over softwood lumber that could have implications for broader trade talks.
Byzantine bilateralism
7-Apr-2017 World Policy Blog
Bilateral commercial negotiations can enable strong countries to dominate weaker ones.
TPP reincarnation
4-Apr-2017 Washington Trade Daily
The Trump Administration plans to use TPP as the “starting point” for a revamped North American Free Trade Agreement and new bilateral deals, according to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
How to understand globalization: not nations, but class
28-Mar-2017 The Real News Network
The question is often posed whether trade and investment is a zero sum game among nations. South Centre Chief Economist Yilmaz Akyuz says he does not think nations are the correct focus here.
U.S. to negotiate ‘new, better’ trade deals with key economies: report
2-Mar-2017 Japan Times
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will negotiate “new and better trade deals” with “countries in key markets” to provide a freer and fairer deal for American workers and businesses.
Unpacking trade and investment
2-Mar-2017 Rosa Luxembourg
Series of 11 fact booklets about global trade policies.
Why are my highly educated friends so ignorant about trade?
16-Feb-2017 Local Futures Blog
Local Futures’ Isabel Marlens discusses why many people know so little about trade issues, and what can be done about it.
These countries could be Trump’s next trade war targets
14-Feb-2017 Bloomberg
India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have largely escaped U.S. President Donald Trump’s glare on trade, but he may yet come looking. The U.S. runs trade deficits with all of them, in some cases quite big ones.
Trump scraps The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for bilateral “free trade”
8-Feb-2017 Global Research
Trump wants even stronger, pro-U.S. business free trade deals to the benefit of U.S. multinational corporations and at the expense of the U.S. trading partners.
Trump has one big idea to fix America’s trade deals. It’s not very good.
8-Feb-2017 Slate
If governments turn out to be absolutely desperate to sign FTAs with the US they won’t have much choice but to deal with an administration whose motto is “America first”, which may mean learning to love all our genetically modified produce, among other concessions.

    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.