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ISDS: Who wins more, investors or states?
29-Jun-2015 International Institute for Sustainable Development
Despite the oft-heard refrain that “states ‘win’ ISDS disputes more often than they lose,” it is the investors that have actually won most of the time: 72 per cent of the decisions on jurisdiction, and 60 per cent of cases decided on the merits.
’Nein Danke’ — smaller German firms see US trade deal as threat
29-Jun-2015 Reuters
Small and medium-sized companies known as the ’Mittelstand’ that account for 89 percent of Germany’s exporters are skeptical of the trade deal being hammered out between Brussels and Washington.
Congress hands Harper a political hornets’ nest with TPP
29-Jun-2015 iPolitics
Canadian dairy and poultry farm lobbies are fast mobilizing to oppose the deal (or at least extract vast amounts of compensation) and it has all the hallmarks of becoming a major election issue in rural Quebec and Ontario ridings.
TPP ’cold war taking place by proxy’
29-Jun-2015 Otago Daily Times
The Trans Pacific Partnership is a ’’geopolitical contest’’ between the United States and China, University of Auckland law professor Jane Kelsey says.
Lawmakers are using trade rules to blacklist critics of Israel
29-Jun-2015 Foreign Policy in Focus
Legislation to fast track new trade pacts specifically targets supporters of the BDS movement against the Israeli occupation.
Queensland Nationals threaten revolt if TPP is sugar-free
29-Jun-2015 The Australian
Queensland Nationals MPs will refuse to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement unless it opens up significant new ­export opportunities for the Australian sugar industry.
[Planet Money] Trade deal confidential
29-Jun-2015 National Public Radio
Right now hundreds of trade negotiators are preparing for battle over the details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. The text of that agreement is locked in a top-secret room in the basement of the Capitol and won’t be released to the public until the deal is done.
US Trade Promotion Authority (2015)
29-Jun-2015 US Congress
TAIHOA to TPPA - application for urgent Treaty hearing
27-Jun-2015 Scoop
A group of esteemed Māori leaders and academics, including Dr Papaarangi Reid, Moana Jackson, Rikirangi Gage, Angeline Greensill, Hone Harawira and Moana Maniapoto have filed a claim and application for urgent hearing today in the Waitangi Tribunal.
TPP’s fate rests with Japan, U.S.
27-Jun-2015
Now that Congress has granted President Barack Obama the power to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement without interference, attention will be focused on whether he can take advantage of the reinvigorated talks to seal both the deal and his legacy before his departure in 2017.
Bringing community perspectives to investor-state arbitration: the Pac Rim case
27-Jun-2015 IIED
Civil society organisations can play an important role in carrying and strengthening community voices in arbitration processes, by making submissions to arbitral tribunals.
Calls for reform in Thai-Aust trade pact
26-Jun-2015 AAP
Thailand faces pressure to open its highly protected dairy and beef markets to Australian exporters under the decades-old Thai-Australia free trade pact.
Malaysia’s stand on TPPA not finalised, says Mustapa
26-Jun-2015 Bernama
"We will wait for the cost-benefit analysis on the TPPA, which is expected to be completed in the next few weeks, and will then lean on Parliament to determine the country’s participation in it," Malaysia trade minister says.
Vietnamese firms unenthusiastic about FTA with South Korea
26-Jun-2015 Thanh Nien News
While the government hopes the free trade agreement with South Korea will bring benefits to Vietnam, businesses fear it will bring them more losses than gains.
China-Australia FTA - the devil in the detail
26-Jun-2015 Lexology
While the legal text of the China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA) was signed last week, the investment legal framework will be reviewed within the next three years with a view to commencing negotiations for a comprehensive Investment Chapter to be included in ChAFTA.
Can free trade agreements be consistent with climate change mitigation?
26-Jun-2015 Huffington Post
Free trade agreements could elevate the rights of possession of fossil fuel resources above that of mitigating climate change.
Confirmed: Philippines wants to join TPP
25-Jun-2015 The Diplomat
The Philippines is committed to joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the country’s trade chief confirmed Wednesday morning in the clearest declaration made to date on the issue.
US Congress passes anti-BDS legislation, key trade bill
25-Jun-2015 i24News
The so-called trade promotion authority bill passed by Congress requires US negotiators to make the rejection of the BDS campaign a principal trade objective in negotiations with the European Union.
Australian rural real estate agents target Chinese buyers
25-Jun-2015 Xinhua
Rural real estate agents in Australia are taking advantage of the recent free trade agreement (FTA) between Australia and China by increasing farm sales to Chinese buyers.
US Senate approves ’fast-track’ trade bill
25-Jun-2015 SME Times
The US Senate on Wednesday approved a so-called fast-track trade bill that empowers the president to negotiate trade deals, media reported on Thursday.