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Corporate-led trade deals are coming to Britain – and unions have to be ready
6-Jan-2021 Left Foot Forward
The Tories are trying to shut workers out of Britain’s post-Brexit trade deals, writes Unite’s Tony Burke.
EU-UK FTA: Draft text (Dec 2020)
5-Jan-2021 European Commission
China-Mauritius FTA goes into effect. But who benefits?
5-Jan-2021 TRT
China’s first FTA with an African country provides a stepping stone into the continent through the geopolitical hotspot Indo-Pacific region.
Japan, Mexico agree to expand membership of TPP free trade pact
5-Jan-2021 The Mainichi
Britain, China and South Korea have recently shown interest in joining the TPP, while Japanese officials are keeping close tabs on whether Washington will return to the framework.
Ukraine-Israel free trade agreement takes effect, expected to double trade
5-Jan-2021 Jewish Press
A free trade agreement between Israel and Ukraine took effect over the weekend and is estimated to double the trade between Israel and Ukraine within the next two to three years to $2 billion.
Ghana-UK reach consensus on new trade agreement
5-Jan-2021 Business Ghana
The agreement provides duty free and quota free access for Ghana and the same preferential tariff reductions for British exporters as provided by the arrangement that is currently in force.
UK and Cameroon secure economic partnership agreement
5-Jan-2021 Business Leader
The United Kingdom and Cameroon have today secured an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) that ensures mutual continuity of trade.
S. Korea’s FTA networks set to further expand in 2021
4-Jan-2021 Yonhap
South Korea plans to sign more FTAs down the road to diversify its trade portfolio and ease its heavy dependence on China and the United States, which take up around 40 percent of exports.
African free trade bloc opens for business, but challenges remain
4-Jan-2021 Reuters
African countries began officially trading under a new continent-wide free trade area, after months of delays caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.
China-Mauritius free-trade deal creates model for Beijing’s trade with Africa, observers say
4-Jan-2021 South China Morning Post
Deal will ‘vitalise cooperation between our two countries and strengthen China-Africa economic ties’, head of African affairs at Chinese foreign ministry says.
China and EU leaders strike investment deal, but political hurdles await
4-Jan-2021 New York Times
The agreement, which would roll back restrictions on investment, faces some opposition in Europe and objections from the Biden camp.
UK signs free trade agreement with Turkey
4-Jan-2021 The Guardian
The continuity agreement takes effect on 1 January and ensures that the existing flow of goods will not be affected when the UK formally leaves the EU.
Post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal becomes law on eve of deadline
4-Jan-2021 CNN
British lawmakers voted to back the United Kingdom’s post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union on the eve of the December 31 deadline. The agreement already received provisional approval from the European Union.
New SA trade agreements now effective
3-Jan-2021 IOL
Friday marked the start of trade for South African firms under two new trade agreements, the trade and industry and competition department (dtic) said.
Key points: What we know so far about post-Brexit trade deal
25-Dec-2020 France 24
The European Union and Britain agreed a post-Brexit trade deal after almost ten months of tortuous negotiations to govern ties when the UK exits the single market.
DCFTA: An uncertain economic impact and irreversible consequences on society and sovereignty
21-Dec-2020 Houloul
We cannot expect a miracle, or even a significant economic improvement with the DCFTA, especially as its irreversible political and social consequences risk preventing development from the country.
China’s Xi Jinping seeks advantage over Biden with ground-breaking EU investment deal
21-Dec-2020 CNBC
Though EU officials haven’t yet revealed the details, one senior EU diplomat said the agreement goes beyond anything Beijing has offered any foreign partner previously.
Xinjiang forced labour concerns threaten to derail China’s investment deal with EU
21-Dec-2020 South China Morning Post
Officials say European Parliament could refuse to endorse deal over Beijing’s failure to commit to International Labour Organisation standards
Fifth TIFA council meeting held
21-Dec-2020 The Himalayan Times
The United States affirmed its engagement with Nepal on its efforts to foster innovation and investment through improvements in intellectual property protection and enforcement.
EU-UK trade talks floundering over fish as cutoff day nears
21-Dec-2020 AP
With yet another Brexit deadline disappearing in the rearview mirror, a breakthrough on fishing rights remained elusive for the European Union and Britain.