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Business demands sovereign risk protection in FTAs
13-Aug-2012
The Gillard government’s refusal to reconsider its decision not to demand sovereign risk protection for Australian companies in free-trade agreements has been met with loud objections from leading business groups who say such provisions are vital to international trade, according to The Australian Financial Review.
CIS countries to agree on free trade in services
13-Aug-2012
The Commonwealth of Independent States plans to agree on free trade in services, government’s commissioner for cooperation with the Russian Federation and the CIS countries Valeriy Muntiyan told a press conference.
Australian business leaders launch trade agreement campaign
13-Aug-2012 Tax News
Members of the Australian business community have launched a campaign for trade agreements to include provisions to allow private companies to sue foreign governments for breach of contract or property rights.
Almost 50 executives from the top US companies to take part in the 2012 Uzbekistan-US Annual Business Forum in Tashkent
13-Aug-2012 PR Newswire
The American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce has been arguing strongly to bring the US-Uzbek bilateral investment treaty into force. The Uzbeks have signed it, but the US has not yet ratified it.
The Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)
13-Aug-2012 GBG Indonesia
Negotiations will soon commence for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Indonesia. APINDO has undertaken the task of gathering input from Indonesia’s private sector for the preparatory stages of the negotiations.
Island visit may threaten trade; Officials fear effects of Takeshima trip on partnership talks with S. Korea
13-Aug-2012 Yomiuri Shimbun
Fears have risen over the future of Japan-South Korea economic relations in the wake of South Korean President Lee Myung Bak’s visit Friday to the Takeshima islands.
EU launches probe into dumping of Indian steel wire
13-Aug-2012 Reuters
The European Commission said it had received an anti-dumping complaint by European steel producers’ group Eurofer against imports of stainless steel wires from India.
Chile expects to ink FTA with RI soon: Minister
11-Aug-2012 Jakarta Post
Chile, an entry point into the South American region, soon expects to set up a free trade agreement with Indonesia
Geopolitical tsunami in the Southern Cone
9-Aug-2012 Americas Program
When the Paraguayan Senate approved the “political judgment” against Fernando Lugo on June 22, it unleashed the biggest political crisis in the Mercosur in the last 20 years. The dust still hasn’t settled, but it’s clear that nothing will be the same since the shake-up.
Ex-GM workers in Colombia sew lips shut in protest
9-Aug-2012 WSJ
The former GM workers chose the grounds next to the US Embassy to stage their hunger strike because of the labor action plan agreed to between Colombia and the US last year under the countries’ free trade agreement — which both governments, and General Motors, have igored.
China offers protection to Taiwan investors
9-Aug-2012 FT
China and Taiwan have signed their first investor-protection agreement in the latest sign of the momentum behind President Ma Ying-jeou’s drive to strengthen his country’s relationship with China, its biggest trade partner and frequent political adversary.
Libre-échange auto: la Corée s’insurge contre la France
9-Aug-2012 La Tribune
Le gouvernement sud-coréen réfute les allégations de la France, selon lesquelles le marché tricolore serait envahi de voitures produites en Corée.
Mercosur senses dangers of free trade with China
9-Aug-2012 IPS
There is little likelihood that South America’s Mercosur trade bloc will take up China’s proposal to establish a free trade agreement, at least in the short term. Experts and industrialists fear an invasion of cheap Chinese goods, and unequal competition.
Asia Pacific talks not aimed at containing China - US official
9-Aug-2012 Reuters
Some in China see the Trans Pacific Partnership as a US attempt to rewrite the rules of trade for the region to economically contain China, whose rapid growth continues to rattle many lawmakers and companies in the United States. Deputy USTR Demetrios Marantis rejects the charge.
¿Desintegración latinoamericana?
8-Aug-2012
Los visionarios sueños de integración regional se convirtieron en instituciones de naturaleza política, diseñadas para contrarrestar, ciega e ideológicamente, la influencia norteamericana
EU-Thailand: Public hearing ’required’ before FTA talks
8-Aug-2012 Bangkok Post
A free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union requires not only parliamentary approval but also a public hearing before the Commerce Ministry can negotiate the terms, FTA Watch, a civil society network, declared on Wednesday.
EU-Israel: One hand whitewashes the other
8-Aug-2012 Al Jazeera
The European Union is being duplicitous by condemning Israel’s human rights abuses while increasing trade links.
’Services sector, sticking point in India-EU free trade talks’
8-Aug-2012 PTI
India and the European Union are facing “difficulties” relating to the services sector in signing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two sides, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders said here today.
India, Chile set to expand PTA to increase trade
8-Aug-2012 SME Times
Ministers from India and Chile Tuesday decided to expand the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to increase trade between the two nations, informed ministry of commerce and industry.
Price gouging undermines South Korean trade pacts, minister says
8-Aug-2012 Bloomberg
South Korean consumers aren’t getting the full benefit of deals lowering trade barriers because distributors and wholesalers aren’t passing along the savings in import costs, the nation’s trade minister said.