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Ministers differ on India-Asean FTA
Rekindling differences with his senior colleague Kamal Nath, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh has written to the Prime Minister seeking review of the proposed reduction in customs duty on farm products under the Free Trade Agreement with Asean.
Business leaders vow to seek US free trade pact
Representatives of leading US companies and the Vietnamese Government yesterday expressed a consensus to strengthen bilateral trade relations and hastening the signing of a framework agreement for a free trade area joining the two countries, according to Deputy Minister of Trade Luong Van Tu.
Industrialists warn against reduction of import tariffs
Kenyan manufacturers have rebuffed calls by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a reduction of import duty.
AIT chief urges Taiwan to focus trade talks on TIFA
Taiwan should focus more on a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) rather than on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the upcoming trade talks with the U.S., Stephen M. Young, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), told a press conference yesterday.
S Korea, US to disclose full text of free trade deal May 20: Roh aide
South Korea and the United States are scheduled to disclose the full text of their free trade agreement (FTA) around May 20, a top aide to President Roh Moo-hyun said Thursday.
Cuba warns of FTAA mutations
The change in name of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) into Free Trade Agreements (FTA) was rejected by Cuban economist, Osvaldo Martinez.
ACP ministers unite on EU sugar deal talks
The African Caribbean Pacific sugar group has adopted a united negotiating position on the European Union’s Economic Partnership Agreement.
EU puts Myanmar aside, proceeds FTA talks with Asean
The European Union today agreed to enter into free trade area talks with the Association of South-East Asian Nations despite its strong feeling on the absence of Myanmar’s democratic reforms.
EU must not threaten Pacific islands
In an recent article headlined “Economic Partnership Agreements: tackling the myths”, the European Union’s trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, sought to justify the EU’s position on agreements being negotiated with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries.
S’pore-US FTA a boost to bilateral trade, has potential to grow
The US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has helped boost bilateral trade significantly and there is still potential to grow further.
FTA threat enough to hurt beef producers
South Korea and the United States have yet to ratify a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), but South Korean beef producers are already in a state of collapse. Wholesale prices of South Korean beef, or hanu, continue to plunge as producers dump beef on the market, fearing over an influx of American and Canadian beef.
Challenging corporate investor rule
How the World Bank’s investment court, free trade agreements, and bilateral investment treaties have unleashed a new era of corporate power and what to do about tt
Ramesh bypasses boss, tells PM to reconsider clauses in FTA with ASEAN
Two days after Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar had a dig at the Prime Minister over economic reforms and 9.2 per cent growth at a CII meeting, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh has cautioned Manmohan Singh over parts of the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with the ASEAN group.
FTA with Brunei likely by year end
Modalities for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and Brunei Darussalam are being finalised and hopefully the agreement would be in place by the end of this year. This was stated by Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam Major General (retd) Syed Haider Jawed, while speaking at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Thursday.
National-level campaign tackles the proposed EU-ASEAN FTA
A broad coalition composed of social movement groups and actors convened to gear up a country-level campaign that will expose and critique the neo-liberal framework that guides the entire free trade agreement (FTA) discourse, now being negotiated between the European Union (EU) and the 10-member ASEAN.
Cuba hosts anti-FTA meeting
The sixth Hemispheric Meeting to Fight Free Trade Agreements and for integration of the peoples began sessions at Havana Convention Center on Thursday.
Scholar advises ACP countries
African, Caribbean and Pacific countries need to press for increased protocol tonnage to safeguard itself, a scholar advised.
Pak wants greater trade but puts conditions on SAFTA
Pakistan, which is keen on exporting cement and wheat to India, on Thursday said it is willing to fulfil its SAFTA commitments if the issue of non-tariff barriers are addressed.
Exclusive US agreements unfair advantage, Emerson says
Canadian exporters are facing discrimination in Latin America and elsewhere because of exclusive trade pacts the United States has with those countries, Trade Minister David Emerson has complained.
Foreign investors gone wild
When Bolivian President Evo Morales took office in January 2006, he pledged to follow through on his campaign pledge to increase Bolivians’ share of revenues from their major source of foreign income, natural gas. International gas companies, however, threatened to sue. Previous Bolivian governments had signed a flurry of bilateral investment treaties that gave foreign investors the right to bypass domestic courts and file such lawsuits through international tribunals. Morales complained that these rules made him feel like a “prisoner” in the presidential palace.