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Free trade could cost plenty
18-Feb-2006 Bangkok Post
Supara Janchitfah looks at the rules of the Thai-US FTA negotiation process and finds them more favourable to the American side.
CAFTA In Limbo
17-Feb-2006
Jacobo Kattan was hoping to build an industrial park and create 8,000 new jobs after the expected implementation of a regional free-trade pact last month. Instead, he’s had to fire 2,000 workers and close three companies as the region’s clothing industry haemorrhages, putting factories in legal limbo while much of their business leaves for Asia.
US Senators express concern over Chevron lobbying tactics
17-Feb-2006 PR Newswire
US Senators Patrick Leahy and Barack Obama have written to the US Trade Representative urging that he ignore Chevron’s campaign to exclude Ecuador from FTA negotiations until the Ecuadorian government shuts down a historic environmental lawsuit against the company.
US nearing decision on trade talks with Malaysia
17-Feb-2006 Reuters
The United States may announce soon that it is beginning free trade talks with Malaysia, US Trade Representive Rob Portman said on Wednesday.
RI seeks wider access to Japan labor market
17-Feb-2006 Jakarta Post
Indonesian trade negotiators are pushing their Japanese counterparts to allow the country’s workers more access to Japan’s labor market.
Free trade in reciprocity
17-Feb-2006 Le Monde Dipliomatique
The new political climate is favourable to projects for regional integration other than the US-led free trade area of the Americas, the most radical being the mutually helpful Bolivarian Alternative.
Panama protests build over US FTA
16-Feb-2006
Agricultural unions and associations in Panama repeated their intention Thursday to continue protests over the way the Isthmus government is negotiating a free trade treaty with the United States.
Ecuador-US FTA hinges on farming
16-Feb-2006
Ecuadorian Foreign Affaire Minister Jorge Illingworth asserted that a Free Trade Agreement with the US would basically depend on a favorable agriculture deal.
Israel, Mercosur negotiating free-trade agreement
16-Feb-2006 Globes
Israel has initiated negotiations for a free-trade agreement with Mercosur. Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor director general Raanan Dinur said, “This is one of the most important steps Israel has taken in foreign trade in recent years.”
SA wary of calls to broaden EU trade pact
16-Feb-2006
SA’s chief trade negotiator, Xavier Carim, said yesterday that it was premature for the European Union (EU) to call for a large-scale expansion of the free trade agreement between the 25-nation bloc and SA.
Industry and Commerce chief: The US has not concluded reviewing FTA
16-Feb-2006
Industry and Commerce minister Francisco Javier Garcia blamed the US Trade Office for delays in reviewing documentation pertinent to the country’s entrance in the Free Trade Treaty with United States and Central America (DR-CAFTA).
India, Asean toiling for pact on negative items under FTA
16-Feb-2006
India and Asean (Association of South East Asian Nations) are struggling to reach an agreement on the list of sensitive items for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the two sides. The sensitive or negative list contains items which will not be subjected to duty cuts agreed under the FTA.
TNC fails to finalize free trade accord
16-Feb-2006
The seven BIMSTEC member countries failed to agree on rules of origin criteria and other outstanding issues, which left text of FTA accord on trade in goods undecided in Bangkok this week.
Guatemala youth join anti-FTA rally
16-Feb-2006
Guatemalan young people announced Thursday their willingness to join the massive February 24 march scheduled against the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US in Guatemala City.
Formal talks on Dhaka-Islamabad FTA start soon, Says Morshed
16-Feb-2006
Bangladesh and Pakistan will soon start formal negotiations on bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in a bid to sign the deal by next September, Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan said here yesterday.
US group urges trade preference for Taiwan
16-Feb-2006
A group of US congressmen have introduced legislation urging US President George W. Bush to give preference to Taiwan as his administration considers which countries to consider for potential free-trade agreements.
FTA should be done with Taiwan, says Dunne
16-Feb-2006
A free trade agreement with Taiwan should be pursued as soon as a deal is done with China, United Future leader Peter Dunne said yesterday.
S. Korea-US FTA should not be disrupted by interest groups: Roh
16-Feb-2006
President Roh Moo-hyun said Thursday the South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) should not be blocked by some interest groups’ resistance.
Jordan, GCC make big advancement in FTA negotiations
16-Feb-2006 MENAFN
The Jordanian minister of Industry and Trade said that his country and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have made great advancement in their negotiations for the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
S. Korea to reflect farmers’ concerns in US free trade talks
16-Feb-2006 Yonhap
"Farmers and ranchers will be invited to take part in negotiations from the outset," a Korean agricultural ministry official said.