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The fleeting charm of free trade
13-Sep-2005 The Star
The signs are scattered and tentative. But it’s beginning to look as if American-style free trade is going out of style.
US and Saudi Arabia conclude bilateral WTO accession agreement
12-Sep-2005
US Trade Representative Rob Portman today announced that the United States and Saudi Arabia have concluded bilateral negotiations on issues related to Saudi Arabia’s World Trade Organization accession.
Aggressive response suggested to US push
10-Sep-2005 Bangkok Post
Thailand should be more aggressive in its response to the US push for environmental and labour protection under the bilateral free trade area (FTA) agreement, a seminar sponsored by the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) was told.
Thai specialists in US for FTA technical talks
10-Sep-2005 Bangkok Post
On liberalising services and investment, Thailand insists on adopting a "positive list" approach, where only those sectors explicitly outlined in the agreement would be opened. The US insists on a "negative list", under which all sectors are on the table except those listed as sensitive.
US mulling free-trade deals with Egypt, South Korea, Malaysia
9-Sep-2005 Bloomberg
The Bush administration said it’s considering separate entreaties from Egypt, Malaysia, South Korea and Switzerland to negotiate free-trade agreements with them.
Garment makers optimistic on liberalisation
8-Sep-2005
DUBAI’S textile and garments market is one of the largest and strongest markets in the region. In 2004, Dubai’s direct exports of the products reached Dh625 million, or 13 per cent of Dubai’s direct exports, while re-exports reached Dh6 billion; leading to a total share of 10 per cent to the total value of goods Dubai directly supplied to the rest of the world.
Conditions ripe for Korea-US FTA
8-Sep-2005
Brisk discussions are underway regarding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Korea and the United States in both official and non-official ways.
Concerns surface over new Andean free trade agreement
8-Sep-2005 New Standard
Barely a month after Congress bypassed labor and environmentalists concerns to pass a free-trade agreement with several Central American nations, a proposal to expand tariff-free-trade zones among the Americas appears headed for ratification, prompting a new round of criticisms and concerns from a handful of human rights and international labor organizations.
Peru’s Toledo: US trade pact expected next month
7-Sep-2005
Peru hopes to have a free trade agreement with the U.S. concluded in October, President Alejandro Toledo said Tuesday.
US official criticizes ’screen quota’
7-Sep-2005 Korea Times
The long-standing screen quota issue is a major stumbling block to a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) between Korea and the US, according to a senior US government official.
Uribe and Toledo to analyze FTA with US
5-Sep-2005
Presidents of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, and Peru, Alejandro Toledo will analyze Monday the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which along with Ecuador, has been negotiated with the US since May 2004.
Battle to make free trade fair
5-Sep-2005
The political leaders of Thailand and Japan met last week in Tokyo to clear away some hurdles in the important negotiations for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement. This FTA, like others recently signed and vaunted by the government, is slightly misnamed because they do not even aim at actual, laissez-faire commerce.
Saudi Arabia and the US sign bilateral free trade agreement
5-Sep-2005
A member of the Saudi delegation negotiating the Kingdom’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) told Asharq Al Awsat his government and the United States had signed a bilateral free trade agreement and expected the U.S Congress to make an announcement on the subject next week following its ratification.
Free-trade deal not in US trip agenda
3-Sep-2005 Manila Bulletin
Trade and Industry Secretary Peter B. Favila said the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Philippines and the US is not in the agenda of President Gloria Arroyo’s state visit to the US.
NTC to clarify Thai stand in FTA talks
2-Sep-2005
Thailand is preparing briefing papers for the technical round of the US-Thailand free trade area (FTA) agreement talks that will make clear the country will not open satellite-based international telecom services or direct broadcasting in the near future.
Myths about bilateral free trade
31-Aug-2005 Dawn
Of late, there has been an outbreak of activism in the realm of bilateral free trade and investment agreements across the world. Many developing countries have found themselves swept off by the wave of bilateralism, not realizing it only weakens the cause of multilateralism.
US-SACU: New impetus behind a deal
31-Aug-2005 Business Day
Negotiations for a free trade agreement between the US and the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) stalled last year in an atmosphere of impasse rather than acrimony. But on the explicit instruction of President Thabo Mbeki, the talks are now on again and new, ambitious targets have been set for their completion, as well as a new plan for getting past the problems that plagued the last effort.
US Congress to address draft of Egyptian-US free trade agreement
31-Aug-2005 Arabic News
The US Administration will put forward the draft to the Egyptian-US free trade agreement to the Congress by the end of the current year, Egypt’s Foreign Trade and Industry Minister Rashid Mohamed Rashid said.
Pakistan-US differences over BIT persists
24-Aug-2005 Dawn
Pakistan has asked the United States to sign the proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) by dropping its demand that in case of an arbitration only the Washington based International Centre for Settlement of Disputes (ICSID) should be approached for a decision.
Devil’s in the trading detail
23-Aug-2005
The first member of President George W. Bush’s Cabinet to visit New Zealand has a positive message to take back to his Washington boss. Mike Johanns - appointed Agriculture Secretary earlier this year - was impressed by just how "New Zealand, to the person that I’ve talked to, is pro-trade".