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A North American security perimeter threatens national sovereignty
7-Feb-2011 Be Your Own Leader
Canada and the US have officially launched negotiations on a trade and security agreement which would take continental integration to the next level.
We need to rethink, not rearm NAFTA
7-Feb-2011 IPS
Experts expect Obama and Harper to announce a “new” border partnership to ease the flow of goods and people across the border by harmonizing security, immigration and refugee, surveillance and possibly defense policy across the continent. There’s nothing new about this plan. It’s the regurgitation of the defunct Bush-led Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) without the Mexican “amigo.”
Peru seeks trade pact with Arab states of Gulf
7-Feb-2011 Reuters
Peru is pushing for a free-trade agreement with with Arab states of the Persian Gulf as it aggressively expands beyond pacts it has implemented with China and the United States, state-run media said on Friday.
China, Japan, S. Korea to sign investment accord
7-Feb-2011 AFP
China, Japan and South Korea will sign a treaty in May to boost cross-border investment and better protect intellectual property, according to a report.
Law suit prospects seen in TPP deal
7-Feb-2011 Radio NZ
A top United States trade official says New Zealand is ready to accept investor-state disputes in the nine-country TransPacific Partnership trade agreement (TPP).
Wikileaks: UK undecided on EU-Syria Association Agreement
6-Feb-2011 Telegraph
"Before the Gaza crisis, Miliband had been inclined to support the Agreement, Saoul said, on the grounds that the Syria Arab Republic Government (SARG) had generally exhibited good behavior internationally (despite lack of progress on key issues such exchanging ambassadors with Lebanon), and that Syrian FM Muallem needed a deliverable to strengthen him with President Assad."
Work intensifies in preparation for EPA negotiations
4-Feb-2011 Scoop
“On the international stage, ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations have reached a stalemate in all regions except for the Caribbean,” said the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
White House, key senator in standoff over South Korean trade deal
3-Feb-2011 Washington Post
Senator Baucus has not said whether he will merely vote against the agreement or will use the full force of his authority as finance committee chairman to block it indefinitely.
Mexico: Avocado producers opposing the FTA with Peru and Brazil
3-Feb-2011 Fresh Plaza
Due to the risk to cultivation health that it represents, producers and packagers who export the Michoacán avocado oppose this fruit being included in the free trade agreements which Mexico will sign with Peru and Brazil.
Thailand seeks adjustment on Australia FTA
3-Feb-2011 The Nation
Thailand will soon start talks with Australia on opening up the two countries’ markets to more goods and services under their five-year-old free-trade agreement.
Peru-EU FTA legal review to conclude on Friday
3-Feb-2011 Andina
Once the text is finalised, the Peruvian Chancellery is in charge of determining whether the FTA should be ratified by Congress or the Executive, while the EU will determine whether the agreement is “mixed” or not, reports Agencia Andina.
Libre-échange: un accord Canada-Europe serait néfaste pour le Québec
2-Feb-2011 La Presse Canadienne
La signature d’un traité de libre-échange entre le Canada et l’Union européenne serait néfaste pour le Québec, qui verrait s’effriter sa souveraineté économique, conclut une étude de l’Institut de recherche en économie contemporaine (IRÉC).
Free trade: US corn flows south, Mexico exports men
2-Feb-2011 McClatchy
"The government [of Mexico] didn’t so much pull the plug on corn. The government pulled the plug on family farmers who grow corn because the big guys who grew corn got massive subsidies and protection from imports," said Jonathan Fox, an expert on rural Mexico at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Textile groups oppose KORUS FTA
2-Feb-2011 Textile World
Five organizations representing interests of the US textile industry have sent a letter to members of Congress urging defeat of the pending US-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and a campaign has begun to include the voices of the wider community in a grassroots expression of opposition to the treaty.
India-EU FTA: Grave implications of unrestrained investments
1-Feb-2011 Madhyam
The EC recommendations contain several alarming policy provisions and therefore should receive public attention both in Europe and India. If implemented, these provisions would seriously undermine development priorities and restrict policy space to regulate investments in the public interest.
Don’t swallow this pill
1-Feb-2011 Indian Express
Troubling news reports indicate that a newly-minted Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and India would permit companies to circumvent visionary safeguards built into India’s 2005 Patents Act, widely seen as one of the most progressive patent laws in the world.
Business as usual - How free trade agreements jeopardise financial sector reform
31-Jan-2011 SOMO
In contrast with the current wide-ranging financial reform agenda in the European Union, the EU continues to liberalise a wide range of risky and non-risky financial services in the General Agreement on Trade in Services and other Free Trade Agreements as if the financial crisis never happened. This SOMO briefing paper gives specific examples on how new EU regulations are in contrast with the pre-crisis model that is still being applied in the GATS negotiations, the Cariforum-EU Economic Partnership Agreement and the EU-South Korea FTA.
Deepening Canada-US security and military ties‏
31-Jan-2011 Be Your Own Leader
Recent Canada-U.S. bilateral talks further deepened security and military ties.
US: More than 250 economists call for trade reforms to allow capital controls
31-Jan-2011 IPS
In a letter delivered January 31, more than 250 economists urged the Obama administration to reform US trade rules that restrict the use of capital controls.
Pakistan, US to resume, broaden investment treaty talks
31-Jan-2011
Pakistan and the United States have agreed to resume negotiations on a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) through broad inclusion of stakeholders from both sides, said an official announcement.