bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo

Articles by language


Protesters break through police barricade at Thai-US trade talks
Some 6,000 protesters on Tuesday broke through a barricade around the hotel where Thai and US negotiators are holding free trade talks, police said.
Interview with Mohamed Benayad: «We do not sign free trade agreements with enemy states»
Interview with Mohamed Benayad, Secretary General of the National Council for Foreign Trade, claims to be an advocate of the free trade agreement between Morocco and the United States.
Sri Lanka, US Free Trade Pact Uncertain - Ambassador
A free trade agreement between Sri Lanka and the U.S. isn’t a certainty and even if it does happen, it isn’t guaranteed to solve the country’s trade difficulties, the U.S. ambassador to Sri Lanka said Tuesday.
Anti-trade feelings delay CAFTA
Growing anti-trade sentiment in several Central American countries has held up a trade agreement with the United States that was slated to launch Jan. 1.
Clashes briefly interrupt Thai-U.S. FTA talks in Chiang Mai
Small clashes between Thai police and demonstrators on Tuesday briefly interrupted the sixth round of negotiations on the proposed Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement between Thailand and the United States which ran into the second day in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, reported the Thai News Agency.
Activists want Bush to halt FTA
Pro-democracy groups will urge US President George W Bush to halt free-trade agreement talks with Thailand because Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has violated the Constitution by refusing to seek parliamentary approval for the deal, group leaders said yesterday.
Thousands resist pact with US
Over 8,000 protesters from an alliance of 11 groups opposing the Thai-US free trade area (FTA) agreement took to the streets of this northern city yesterday to demand what they termed unfair trade negotiations be scrapped.
Panama agriculture minister resigns over US talks
Panama’s agriculture minister resigned on Tuesday, alleging that a proposed free trade deal with the United States could expose the country to bird flu, foot and mouth disease and mad cow disease.
OPINION: It could be a matter of life and death
Thailand should think carefully about surrendering its sovereign rights under the WTO — and access to cheap medicine — in exchange for an FTA with the United States
Pact’s progress
The China-ASEAN FTA will form a huge market, with 1.85 billion consumers and a combined gross domestic product of almost US$2.5 trillion. Both sides hope to establish an FTA by 2010, and will gradually reduce export tariffs until then.
For the GCC and India, escalating opportunities
Regional economic diversification received a boost when the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and India - which signed a bilateral framework agreement for economic cooperation in August 2004 - announced that final negotiations for a free-trade agreement (FTA) would start this month, to thrash out niggling issues like rules of origin and differential tariffs.
USTR mulls FTA talks with Egypt, S Korea, Malaysia, Swiss
The Bush administration is considering free-trade negotiations with Egypt, South Korea, Malaysia, and Switzerland, the US Trade Representative’s top agriculture trade negotiator said Monday.
Crisis-ridden Vanaspati producers to hold protest tomorrow
Threatened with virtual closure of domestic Vanaspati industry, manufacturers for the first time will resort to workers-type-demonstration, staging a march to the Parliament, as a protest against import of Vanaspati on zero-tariff from Sri Lanka under Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that rendered the local production uncompetitive.
Time to raise the flag
The Free Trade Agreement with the United States, we were told last year, was a political and bureaucratic triumph, with Trade Minister Mark Vaile and his Canberra mandarins being fearless in their negotiations with our star spangled cousins.
Guatemalan FTA with US said risky
“The Free Trade Agreement imposed by the United States on Central America and Dominican Republic will have negative consequences for our countries,” said Guatemalan jurist Alfonso Bauer Paiz.
Government urged to build financial architecture before opening up FTA with US
The government should build a financial architecture before establishing a free trade area (FTA) between Thailand and the United States, according to leading financiers.
Korea saw rapid FTA progress in 2005
Korea made significant achievements in the area of free trade agreements in 2005, demonstrating the government’s stellar management of trade policies, experts say.
Australia left holding trade’s billion-dollar baby
THE United States-Australia free trade agreement has now been operating for a year. Australian exports to the US appear to be down and American exports to Australia appear to be up. The net result is another billion dollars of deficit in the current account between the two countries. Some people are saying that we have been sold a pup and others are saying that it is too early to tell.
Thai-US FTA: Somkid aide assigned to trade talks
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak has tightened his grip over the Thai-US FTA talks by assigning his right-hand man, Uttama Savanayana, to play a key role in the negotiations with the US team in Chiang Mai, a source said yesterday.
Thaksin promises FTA details later
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra reiterated on Monday that the government is ready to reveal the result of negotiations to establish a free trade area (FTA) between Thailand and the United States - in due course.