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Free trade never was, never will be
23-Feb-2007 Lebanon Daily News
Free trade is now and always has been something of a fraud. No one ever advocates, much less implements, real free trade. Markets have to be managed, and everyone knows it. The question is, for whose benefit?
US "free trade": Death, drugs and despair in Colombia
23-Feb-2007 Huffington Post
The so-called "free trade" deal between Colombia and the US would likely displace hundreds of thousands of poor rural Colombians from their lands, sending them into far deeper economic despair-and forcing many of them to work for the very groups that violently displaced them from their lands. You can not make this agreement—or any similar past agreement—better by tinkering around the edges.
US not ready for Japan free trade talks: USTR
22-Feb-2007 Washington Post
A top US trade official on Thursday quashed business community hopes for the United States to begin talks on a free trade agreement with Japan after it finishes negotiations on a proposed pact with South Korea.
Chantiers maritimes: Les constructeurs craignent le libre-échange
22-Feb-2007 Radio Canada
L’industrie de la construction navale au Canada surveille avec inquiétude les négociations entre Ottawa et des pays spécialisés dans la construction de navires en vue de conclure des accords de libre-échange. Des chantiers navals canadiens affirment que leur avenir pourrait être compromis si les tarifs douaniers actuels, de 25 %, devaient disparaître.
Fast approval of text rapped
22-Feb-2007 Bangkok Post
The National Human Rights Commission and FTA Watch yesterday rebuked the Thai government for endorsing the text of the Japan-Thailand free trade agreement without revising the 940-page deal thoroughly. FTA Watch said it would consult with others opposing the agreement to stage a major rally against the interim government if it rushed into signing the deal.
S Korea-US FTA may encourage North Korea to choose non-nuclear path: paper
21-Feb-2007 Yonhap
A US-South Korea free trade agreement (FTA) could show North Korea that economic liberalization would be a better guarantee of prosperity than nuclear brinkmanship, according to a paper re-issued by a conservative think tank on Tuesday.
Envoy says FTA talks to continue
21-Feb-2007 Gulf News
The UAE and the United States have confirmed that the negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will continue, officials said. "The talks are not suspended. What happened is that the documentation will not be ready by the March 31 deadline," US Ambassador Michele J. Sison told Gulf News yesterday.
GCC and EU free trade talks stall
21-Feb-2007 Arabian Business
Negotiations between European Union and GCC officials at ministerial level have been delayed until May, an EU source announced yesterday.
Murtha sees security threat in trade deal
21-Feb-2007 The Hill
US Rep John Murtha (D-Pa.), a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), is calling elements of a Peru free-trade agreement (FTA) signed by the Bush administration a threat to national security.
Govt orders more FTA talks
21-Feb-2007 Bangkok Post
The Thai cabinet yesterday instructed officials negotiating the Thai-Japanese Free Trade Agreement not to sign any deal without further talks with Tokyo to clear the air on issues like toxic waste imports and the patenting of micro-organisms.
Toxic backlash to Thai-Japan FTA
21-Feb-2007 Asia Times
A highly anticipated Thailand-Japan free-trade agreement (FTA) has hit an unexpected environmental snag, as Thai activists protest a provision in the draft agreement that would allow Japan to export to and dump in Thailand unlimited amounts of the hazardous and toxic waste it generates.
ALBA seen as a historical milestone in Caribbean-Latin America relations
21-Feb-2007 Radio Jamaica
Antiguan Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, along with the Prime Ministers of Dominica and St. Vincent, on the weekend signed onto the Alba, a new free trade agreement from Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
Japan’s business lobby calls for freer trade with Asia
21-Feb-2007 IndustryWeek
"The first necessary step for Japan is to seal free trade deals with Asian countries as soon as possible", Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) and Canon Inc, said.
Uganda: Now EU courts country to sign EPAs
21-Feb-2007 AllAfrica.com
As debate on the contentious Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) rages on, the European Union now wants Uganda to sign the trade pact and continue to negotiate for tariff waivers while on board, according to EU trade experts.
An open letter to US Congress from the Colombian Oil Workers Union regarding the FTA
20-Feb-2007 Mingas
Our organization, the Colombian Oil Workers Union (USO), knows of your interest regarding the Colombian government’s record on human, labor and union rights within the framework of current discussions about a Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the United States. We wish to inform you that our Colombian Oil Workers Union (USO), an affiliate of our national labor federation CUT, has been the constant target of government attacks which we summarize below.
Manila-Tokyo deal: A toxic nightmare
20-Feb-2007 Manila Standard Today
I first thought that my Japanese clients were trying to patronize me (and us Filipinos) when they said that Japan did us an injustice in the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement.
Grassroots organizing, regional trade agreements and food sovereignty in Africa
19-Feb-2007 Grassroots Journal
Grassroots movements have made great strides towards putting the power of the food system in citizens’ hands, but ongoing bi-lateral and regional trade negotiations threaten to curtail these advances.
July deadline for Carib/Europe economic negotiations
19-Feb-2007 Jamaica Gleaner
All unresolved aspects of the EU-Caribbean EPA negotiations have to be completed at least in outline by the end of July 2007
Pak-Malaysia free trade talks hit snags
19-Feb-2007 The News
The ongoing dialogue between Pakistan and Malaysia on a free trade agreement (FTA) has hit snags as the main stakeholders in the country strongly oppose the proposed 20 per cent cut in tariff on the import of palm oil as demanded by Malaysia.
US/Colombia free trade agreement seems ever more distant
19-Feb-2007 MercoPress
The free trade agreement which the George Bush administration signed with Colombia is stalled in the US Congress and could face further delays because of the alleged links of the Colombian President Alvaro Uribe administration with para military forces.