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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

WTO’s Lamy warns about bilateral deals
18-Oct-2006 Houston Chronicle
Poor nations will lose out if major global trade players opt for bilateral deals instead of working toward a global trade pact, WTO director general Pascal Lamy said Tuesday.
Overview of bilateral free trade and investment agreements
13-Oct-2006
A general overview of free trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties that have been signed or are being negotiated all over the world. Organised by region, it provides a snapshot of the many processes currently under way, some of the controversies they raise and opposition movements against these agreements.
Children of the WTO
28-Sep-2006
World Trade Organization talks collapsed in July 2006 over strong internal disagreements on agricultural policy. While social activists throughout the world cheered, policy-makers in the U.S. and Canada started aggressively pursuing bilateral trade accords or Free Trade Agreements [FTAs].
Global trade no longer hostage to US consumers
28-Sep-2006
Europe, Japan and emerging economies are weaning themselves from dependence on the American consumer, and economists say it’s just in time.
Africa’s silk road: China and India’s new economic frontier
19-Sep-2006 World Bank
Skyrocketing Asian trade and investment in Africa show the beginning of a change in world trade patterns, according to a new World Bank report. The report contains a chapter on trade and investment agreements between Asia and Africa.
Making or missing the links?
18-Sep-2006
While much attention focuses on international trade negotiations, developing countries also introduce trade reforms nationally as part of World-Bank supported economic adjustment programmes.
The ’free trade’ explosion
14-Sep-2006 India Together
With the World Trade talks in limbo, the focus remains on aggressively pushing on the bilateral front. What could not be achieved through a multilateral trade regime, is now being pursued by the US through bilateral and regional deals. Devinder Sharma connects the dots.
Bilateral trade pacts not in EU interest - presidency
9-Sep-2006
Bilateral trade deals are not in the interests of anyone, EU President Finland said on Friday, in the first public criticism of European Commission plans to seek one-on-one pacts with Asian countries.
Political issues weigh on trade talks
9-Sep-2006
At issue are commodities as varied as rice, apparel and automobiles, as well as lucrative new markets in banking and other financial services, with potentially billions of dollars in commerce at stake. But for several countries negotiating trade pacts with the US, the outcome may have less to do with economics than with American election-year politics.
UN trade official Supachai says yuan issue requires global readjustment
6-Sep-2006
Imbalances related to China’s foreign exchange policies cannot be addressed by China alone and require an international effort, Supachai Panitchpakdi, head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said.

    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.