bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo

All articles

Politics of corn loom for divided Mexico
9-Aug-2006 ABC News
The disputed election has raised tensions over a pending NAFTA deadline to halt corn and bean import tarriffs.
WTO: Best left for dead?
9-Aug-2006 TomPaine.com
Confronting the bilateral FTAs will no doubt present fresh difficulties for activists. After all, bilateral negotiations were advancing with or without the multilateral body.
Brazil says Mexico may join Mercosur
9-Aug-2006
Brazil Trade and Industry Minister Luiz Fernando Furlan said Monday that Mexico could join the South American trade block Mercosur within a year.
Labor urge caution on China FTA
9-Aug-2006
Federal Labor Leader Kim Beazley has urged caution in negotiating a free trade agreement with China, as federal cabinet shows signs of a split over parts of the proposed deal.
Seoul reveals a lack of experience in FTA negotiations
9-Aug-2006
"We are learning new things while we’re negotiating with the American representatives," said a Korean official who was part of the labor section negotiation team during the first round of the Korea-U.S. FTA talks, held in Washington last June. "The U.S. is demanding the introduction of a so-called ’public communication system,’ which was a term that we heard for the first time," the negotiator told Hankyoreh.
Pakistan and Thailand to finalise FTA by end of Year: PM
9-Aug-2006
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said Pakistan and Thailand had agreed to finalise Free Trade Agreement (FTA) before the end of this year to further promote and boost bilateral trade and economic relations.
Putting world trade back together again
9-Aug-2006
The Irish poet WB Yeats wrote that when things fall apart, the centre cannot hold. The Doha round has finally fallen apart. What, if anything, can hold the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the multilateral trading system together?
China FTA will be comprehensive: Downer
9-Aug-2006
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says Australia does not want to disrupt investment plans in the automotive and clothing industries through its free trade negotiations with China.
East Asia FTA can be done in 10 years, says Ong
9-Aug-2006
A free trade agreement (FTA) between Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) and China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia and India (East Asia FTA) is possible in the next 10 years, Asean secretary-general, Ong Keng Yong, said Tuesday.
Trade pact with China stuck over security
9-Aug-2006
Security concerns over investments from China is impacting the proposed Bilateral Investment Promotion Agreement with Beijing. North Block’s proposal to amend the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) is stuck, delaying the signing of the agreement.
Thailand may lose US trade privileges
9-Aug-2006
Thailand is included in a group of 13 countries that may lose preferential tariffs when the US revamps its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program at the end of the year, US officials said yesterday.
Managing Globalization: A new trade bandwagon - Are rich-poor pacts fair?
9-Aug-2006
You might as well call it Newton’s Third Law of Trade Negotiations.
Political problems no threat to FTAs, says Kantathi
9-Aug-2006
Thailand yesterday dismissed news reports that political problems at home had delayed negotiations on free-trade agreements (FTAs) among members of the regional Bimstec trade bloc.
FTAs and RTAs: The political imperative
8-Aug-2006
Last week, Sanjaya Baru, the media advisor to the prime minister, and an economist in a previous avatar, published a book called The Strategic Consequences of India’s Economic Performance. Amongst other things in it, he argues for more regional trading agreements.
Economists call FTA with US hasty
8-Aug-2006
Seoul National University President Chung Un-chan, who is also a prominent economist, has criticized the government’s handling of the free trade agreement with the United States as hasty application of theory.
Flower power - But not for the workers
8-Aug-2006 IPS
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Colombia and the United States that could be signed in October or November this year will maintain the tariff exemptions already enjoyed by Colombia’s flourishing flower industry. But there are no plans for higher wages and better working conditions for the industry’s 100,000 workers.
US reviews duty-free access to market
8-Aug-2006 Washington Times
The Bush administration is considering ending trade concessions granted to India, Brazil and other fast-developing nations under a three-decade-old program meant to help poor countries. The administration’s review comes as some lawmakers look to punish governments that opposed US policies during World Trade Organization talks — especially a group of middle-income nations led by Brazil and India — by ending their preferences entirely.
India looks at FTA with non-EU nations
8-Aug-2006 Rediff
India is considering a Free Trade Agreement with non-EU members called the EFTA, which comprises four countries — Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway.
Costa Rica: Es obligatorio consultar el TLC a pueblos indígenas
7-Aug-2006 Servindi
“El texto del proyecto de ley que se tramita bajo el expediente No. 16.047, ‘Tratado de Libre Comercio República Dominicana - Centroamérica - Estados Unidos’ (TLC), en virtud de contener disposiciones normativas que pueden afectar directamente a los pueblos indígenas, debe ser consultado a esas comunidades (...)”. Con este párrafo concluye un informe en el cual el Departamento de Servicios Técnicos de la Asamblea Legislativa se pronuncia sobre la obligatoriedad de consultar a las comunidades indígenas del país sobre el polémico tratado comercial.
CAFTA bait-and-switch destroys Georgia community
7-Aug-2006 Huffington Post
Remember during the debate over the Central American Free Trade Agreement, every Republican politician and corporate lobbyist was giving the public the "free trade creates American jobs" line? It’s a line that America has become used to hearing from Washington, D.C. — even though, as both Hostile Takeover and Take This Job and Ship It show, this mantra has no relation to reality.