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New Zealand to hold free trade talks with Japan, South Korea next month
21-Apr-2008 IHT
Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday she will hold exploratory free trade talks in Japan and South Korea next month — only weeks after securing a comprehensive free trade agreement with China.
’Unity swim’ staged vs JPEPA
21-Apr-2008 Inquirer
Protest rallies are common these days in the Philippines, but on Monday, militants staged a different kind of protest as they engaged in a "unity swim" at Manila Bay against the passage of the controversial trade agreement between the Philippines and Japan.
US election looms over North American summit
21-Apr-2008 Reuters
With the US election looming over their annual summit, North American leaders gather in New Orleans this week for what is expected to be a largely symbolic meeting overshadowed by questions about free trade.
A temporary victory: Colombian unions campaign against FTA
21-Apr-2008 Workers World
The postponement of a vote in the US Congress is just a temporary victory for Colombian workers, due primarily to the hard work of many Colombian trade unionists who have risked their lives visiting the United States to expose the crimes and violence against union leaders in their country.
Beef exports to South Korea may suffer
21-Apr-2008 SMH
Soaring Australian beef exports to the lucrative South Korean market could suffer after South Korea lifted restrictions on US imports.
South Korea, Japan fail to agree on free-trade talks
21-Apr-2008 Bloomberg
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda failed to agree on resuming negotiations for a free-trade agreement when they met today in Tokyo for their first official summit.
EPA - could have dire consequences
21-Apr-2008 Jamaica Observer
Anyone could be forgiven for wanting to fall asleep whenever the new Economic Partnership Agreement between Europe and the Caribbean comes into the conversation. The language is so complex and dry that only professional diplomats can understand it. (And even some of them are pretending). But the Caribbean needs to pay attention, because the economic consequences of this new agreement are heading towards it like an express train with potentially catastrophic consequences.
Japan-ASEAN FTA (2008)
21-Apr-2008 MOFA
Lee, Bush connect FTA to alliance
20-Apr-2008
President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President George W. Bush shared the view that the free trade agreement (FTA) is important for the two countries’ alliance.
Colombian gov’t infiltrated by ’paras’-witness
20-Apr-2008 Reuters
The allegation could increase resistance in Washington to a US-Colombia free trade deal, blocked by House of Representatives Democrats concerned that Uribe is not doing enough to protect labor union members who are often targeted by the paramilitaries.
Tecom land dispute risks damaging US FTA
20-Apr-2008 Arabian Business
A $1 billion lawsuit between Tecom Investments and a US company could hinder free trade talks between the US and the UAE, a US Congressional document shows.
Vietnam, Chile eye free trade agreement
20-Apr-2008 Viet Nam Net
Vietnam and Chile have established a joint mission to study the feasibility of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
Business executives plan to stress free trade to Bush, Harper, Calderon
20-Apr-2008 Globe and Mail
Leading business executives from Canada, US and Mexico will try to rally NAFTA leaders against increasing protectionist sentiment next week by issuing a call for greater co-operation in the face of cries by Democratic presidential candidates to review free trade.
Filipino fishers JPEPA’s biggest losers, says leftwing group
20-Apr-2008 Inquirer
If approved, an estimated 200,000 metric tons of tuna would be fished annually by the Japanese in Philippine waters under the agreement. This would amount to $970 million annual loses for the Philippine fisher folk sector.
Diet to open door to foreign nurses, care workers
20-Apr-2008 HDR Japan
The Diet (Japan’s Parliament) is set to approve an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Indonesia, which will open the door to foreign nurses and care workers for the first time in history, government officials said.
Emirates persists on US trade agreement
20-Apr-2008 Emirates Business 24/7
The UAE has taken a second route to an FTA with the US after failing to meet the time frame originally established by the Trade Promotion Authority granted by Congress: the Tifa-Plus (Trade and Investment Framework Agreement) process, which provides a framework for further discussions on the FTA and on short-term issues.
Handled with tact, FTAs can do what WTO can’t
20-Apr-2008 China Daily
Compared with a multilateral organization like the WTO, FTAs are much more convenient for China in several aspects.
Dealing with the Proliferation of Bilateral Trade Agreements
19-Apr-2008
In this paper, we consider the various options proposed in dealing with the spaghetti bowl, and assess their ability to do so.
US-SKorea free trade pact still in limbo after beef deal
19-Apr-2008 AFP
The United States and South Korea may have ended a longstanding row over beef but the headway seems insufficient to convince the Democratic-controlled Congress to ratify a free trade agreement between the two allies.
USTR fact sheet on opening South Korea to US beef
19-Apr-2008 USTR
The United States and Korea concluded an agreement on April 18, 2008 to fully reopen South Korea’s market to all US beef and beef products irrespective of whether or not the FTA is ratified