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The legacy of Doha: spaghetti bowl trade
31-Jul-2006
IN the end Doha died not with a bang but a whimper, with media coverage of its collapse being squeezed off the front pages by the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
Decks for FTA with SACU cleared
31-Jul-2006
The Cabinet on Thursday cleared a proposal for a framework agreement aimed at promoting expansion of trade and providing a mechanism to negotiate a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), within a reasonable time, for cooperation between India and the South Africa Customs Union (SACU).
Bilateral deals ’mock’ Doha
31-Jul-2006
The Doha round of world trade talks may have collapsed in Geneva last week — denying the world’s developing countries their promised access to global markets — but leading trade expert Jagdish Bhagwati remains optimistic about the cause of multilateral trade liberalisation.
Steel boss sounds alarm on China FTA
31-Jul-2006
The head of Australia’s biggest steel maker, BlueScope Steel, has questioned the value of a free-trade deal with China and urged the Federal Government to even up tariffs on steel traded between the countries.
India says ASEAN-India free trade talks not dead
31-Jul-2006
Trade talks between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are very much alive, despite reports that they they have been suspended, an Indian minister said Thursday.
PR firm hired to push FTA
31-Jul-2006
Taiwan has hired a US public relations firm to push the US to sign a free-trade agreement with Taipei, a Taiwanese radio network reported yesterday.
Expert panel wants India, Japan economic pact to get cracking
30-Jul-2006 Financial Express
A joint study group, which was set up during the Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visit to India in 2005, has given the green signal for having a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Japan.
Coalition mourns one year of CAFTA, calls for trade with justice
30-Jul-2006 Stop CAFTA Coalition
One year after the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) narrowly passed in the US House of Representatives, the agreement has failed to live up to its supporters’ claims.
RI-Japan trade deal waiting on new law
28-Jul-2006
Trade Minister Mari Elka Pengestu says the government cannot sign a much-awaited Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Japan by the year’s end unless the House of Representatives speeds up the passage of the new investment bill.
Fighting the US-South Korea free trade agreement
28-Jul-2006 S&L
Participants in the growing movement inside South Korea who are opposed to the proposed U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement held demonstrations in Washington, D.C. during the first week of June while negotiations were being conducted.
India denies FTA talks deadlock
28-Jul-2006 Gulf Daily News
India’s Commerce and Industry Ministry said yesterday free trade talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were still on and officials from both sides were likely to submit fresh proposals soon.
Tanzania’s multi-block membership reaffirmed by SADC
28-Jul-2006 People’s Daily
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has okayed Tanzania’s multi-regional block membership, thus paying the way for the east African country to remain in SADC with its East African Community affiliation.
New Zealand optimistic of sealing FTA with M’sia soon
28-Jul-2006 Bernama
New Zealand is optimistic of concluding a Free Trade Agreement with Malaysia soon, its foreign minister, Winston Peters, said today.
BIMSTEC Taking Shape, Finally
27-Jul-2006
The Bay of Bengal for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), a regional trading bloc of seven South and Southeast Asian countries, is giving final shape to its free trade agreement in Colombo this week.
Asean suspends FTA talks with India
27-Jul-2006 Financial Express
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has suspended free-trade talks with India because of New Delhi’s reluctance to open its markets, Malaysia’s trade and industry minister said on Tuesday.
ANALYSIS: WTO collapse forces Japan down rocky FTA road
27-Jul-2006 Kyodo
Now that the global trade talks under the World Trade Organization have collapsed, Japan will be forced to walk down what looks like a rocky road to seek bilateral free trade agreements, marking a departure from its trade policy based on both multilateral and bilateral approaches.
Regional trade pacts rise to the fore
26-Jul-2006
Two weeks ago, members of the World Trade Organization agreed on rules that would make it easier to track bilateral and regional trade deals. Negotiators were concerned that the proliferation of such deals would detract from efforts, already faltering, to reach a global trade pact.
Will US Change Laws for FTA With Korea?
26-Jul-2006
South Korea has three major demands in its free trade agreement (FTA) talks with the United States since June when the first round of bilateral meeting began.
Asean suspends FTA talks with India
26-Jul-2006
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has suspended free-trade talks with India because of New Delhi’s reluctance to open its markets, Malaysia’s trade and industry minister said on Tuesday.
A Korea-U.S. trade agreement: what is at stake?
26-Jul-2006 The Hankyoreh
This examines macro-economic issues, intellectual property and patent protections, the potential impact on pharmaceuticals, and other issues at stake in the US-Korea FTA.