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Asean has core role in negotiations for RCEP trade pact: Chinese Foreign Ministry
30-Jan-2018 The Straits Times
China has affirmed Asean’s core role in negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Ecuador adopts a new approach towards foreign investment
30-Jan-2018 Lexology
Recent declarations made by members of the newly elected government of Ecuador reveal a reversal of its predecessor’s decision to denounce and withdrawal from the ICSID Convention, as well as all of Ecuador’s bilateral investment treaties
Trudeau’s ’progressive’ TPP violates Indigenous rights, opposed by Māori and Mapuche peoples
30-Jan-2018 Council of Canadians
Justin Trudeau’s so-called ’Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership’ (CPTPP) - to be signed on March 8 in Chile - is a violation of Indigenous rights.
Towards a peoples charter on international trade agreements
30-Jan-2018 Parti Sosialis Malaysia
It is now time we open up the dialogue on the kind of trade agreements that we want to see in place.
EU-Mercosur association agreement: The SPS and sustainability chapters in the Uruguay leaks
30-Jan-2018
Similar to the July 2017 draft of the Mercosur agreement, the November 2017 version only contains one single reference to the precautionary principle
Free trade – not turf rows – tipped to top China, Japan, South Korea summit agenda
30-Jan-2018 South China Morning Post
The leaders of three of Asia’s biggest economies will aim to advance a free-trade agreement and economic cooperation, putting territorial rows and military tensions aside at an expected trilateral summit in April, Chinese diplomatic observers said.
EU-Japan partnership agreements herald new era of closer cooperation
30-Jan-2018 European Council of Foreign Relations
The intensification of negotiations between the EU and Japan came in response to broader geopolitical developments such as the rise of China, Trump, and Brexit.
India-Cambodia deliberates on financial support in agriculture, pharmaceuticals
30-Jan-2018 Knowledge & News Network
India and Cambodia clinch a deal to work towards a Bilateral Investment Treaty which provides financial help to Southeast Asian nations.
India, Eurasian Economic Union to hold talks on trade pact
29-Jan-2018 Economic Times
The Indian government has worked out the details of a possible free trade agreement with the five nation Eurasian Economic Union.
Canada, Mexico tell US: Decide whether you want a NAFTA dispute settlement process
29-Jan-2018 CBC
Disputes over whether to opt out of investment section frustrating to Canada and Mexico.
Canada begins court fight to overturn NAFTA ruling on Digby quarry
29-Jan-2018 CBC
Ruling found that New Jersey company was wrongly prevented from opening quarry and terminal.
Maldives feels the weight of China’s regional ambitions
29-Jan-2018 Nikkei Asian Review
Even before China and the Maldives last month signed the FTA in question, the paradisaic archipelago’s increasing economic dependence on China was raising red flags.
Sri Lanka-Singapore FTA comes with govt’s ‘Look East’ policy: What does it mean?
29-Jan-2018 Daily Mirror
So what does the government mean by ‘Looking East?’ Is it simply a buzz-word thrown in for good measure, in the process of marketing the Singapore FTA to the public? Does it point to some confusion at a policy level? Or is it terminology advised by external forces guiding policy?
Talks on Asean gold import ban today
29-Jan-2018 The Economic Times
The ban was effected over complaints by bullion traders. Unscrupulous traders were misusing the FTA to import bullion in the guise of jewellery. The trade bodies are willing to promote trade and manufacturing through FTA or similar agreements, but not at the cost of local manufacturers and workers prospects.
From Tokyo with love for global trade
29-Jan-2018 The Hindu
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, is going ahead in the absence of the US is a testament to Japan’s role in shepherding the tough negotiations through some tumultuous times.
‘Trans-pacific pact could hurt India’
29-Jan-2018 The Hindu
The book titled “Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement: A framework for future trade rules?” has analyzed 5,544 pages of the TPP text says that if India joins TPP, norms may hit agriculture and manufacturing.
Asean pushes for liberalised trade pact with India
29-Jan-2018 The Daily Star
The members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have mounted pressure on India for clinching a liberalised pact in goods and services also involving six other countries, including China, by this year.
UK ’front of the line’ for free-trade deal, says US treasury secretary
26-Jan-2018 Sky
Steven Mnuchin said the US was "very supportive of the UK over the Brexit issue" and wanted to see a successful transition.
RCEP negotiations: Officials to meet in Jakarta in February
26-Jan-2018 The Hindu
The member countries would deliberate on finalising the maximum number of goods on which duties will either be eliminated or reduced drastically. Matters pertaining to services sector are also expected to figure in the meeting.
How about showing us the TPP deal we’re about to sign?
26-Jan-2018 Sydney Morning Herald
There’s no way to tell what’s in the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership deal until we’ve seen the text, and we won’t see it until after it’s signed, in Chile on March 8.