bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo

All articles


Key US-Bahrain FTA ’has no expiry date’
Debunking rumours, US Deputy Chief of Mission in Bahrain Timothy Pounds has said that the free trade agreement (FTA) between Bahrain and the US does not have an expiry date and is here to stay.
Trans-Pacific free-trade pact ’old-fashioned’: ex-WTO chief
Former WTO chief Pascal Lamy calls the Trans-Pacific Partnership "the last of the big old-style trade agreements" while ’’the new era begins with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.’’
EU-US free trade talks under fire from filmmakers
The TTIP free-trade talks between the EU and US continue to come under fire from a growing chorus of European film-makers and EU Culture Ministers.
Review FTAs and implement GST, urges Nadir Godrej to new government
With the new INdian government all set to take charge, CII National Committee on Chemicals has put forth its expectations from the new government for the benefit of the chemical industry. Topping the list is the demand for reviewing the free trade agreements signed by India with other countries as the committee feels that these have not benefited the industry.
TPP looking less attractive for NZ
Another ministerial meeting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) came and went last week in Singapore. No one here blinked. Trade Minister Tim Groser played it all very low key. No expectations meant no disappointment.
Billionaire Salim seeks sweet Philippine deals
Billionaire Anthoni Salim’s First Pacific Co. is seeking to buy sugar companies in the Philippines to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia and tap opportunities from a free-trade agreement in the region.
New environmentalists taking bold actions and it’s working
Through trade agreements, Big Energy is trying to weaken environmental protections and increase their power to subvert democracy but people are stopping these too.
De Gucht assures that TTIP will probably be a mixed agreement
European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht has said that the national parliaments of the 28 EU member states will “very likely” need to ratify the future EU-US free trade agreement that is currently being negotiated.
Chinese hacking in the US could damage Australia-China free trade prospects
Australian businesses may be wondering whether Chinese spies have compromised their databases as well as those of US businesses, write Philip Seltsikas and Max Soyref.
Canada-EU trade deal continues to be hampered by lengthy logistics
Cast your mind ahead five years. Most people probably can’t say with certainty what their lives will be like in 2019. In a worst-case scenario, it could take that long to put the much-hyped Canada-European Union free trade deal into place.
Call for TPP deal to liberalise beef trade
Some of the world’s biggest beef producers are urging the countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations not to water down their ambitions for free agricultural trade.
Govt, COMESA act to boost AGOA exports
The Zambian government in collaboration with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has put in place a committee which will look at ways and means of increasing exports to the Africa Growth Opportunity Act market in the United States of America.
Steel should be kept out of FTA: Steel Ministry
Worried over growing imports from Japan and Korea with whom India has free trade pacts, Steel Ministry has suggested shipments from these nations be brought under negative list to safeguard the interest of local firms.
EU bans poultry exports from illegal Israeli settlements
Palestinian civil society has today welcomed reports that the EU will no longer allow poultry and eggs from illegal Israeli settlements to enter the EU, in what amounts to the first EU ban on any Israeli products.
Civil society and faith-based organisations asked to unite and kick against signing of Economic Partnership Agreement
A member of the Socialist Forum of Ghana and Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt, has asked civil society groups, Trades Unions and faith based organisations to strongly kick against the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement, EPA.
US wants to open talks with Algeria for Trade and Investment Framework Agreement
The United States wants to open discussions with Algeria on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) signed by the two countries in 2001, said US Department of Commerce senior commercial officer for Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, Douglas Wallace.
In Chevron case, Ecuador says new tests prove long-standing pollution
This week, for the first time, the Ecuadorean government disclosed the results of water and soil testing conducted in 2013 by its experts — the US environmental, engineering and infrastructure consultant Louis Berger Group — at five sites once operated by Chevron predecessor Texaco.
China-Iceland free trade agreement details released
A free trade agreement between China and Iceland, the first between Beijing and a European economy, will relax tariffs for Icelandic imports of all industrial products and most agricultural goods, Chinese state media said on Thursday.