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NAFTA

North America Free Trade Agreement

It’s time to learn if the new Nafta’s worker protections have any teeth
3-Jun-2021 Quartz
Nafta did not improve the lot of most Mexican workers. But like many agreements that reduce tariffs and other obstacles to trade, Nafta was intended to boost the rights of workers in Mexico.
Tech liability shield has no place in trade deals, groups say
27-May-2021 Bloomberg
The organizations said including a legal shield for tech companies in trade deals “reflects a broad effort by the big tech platforms to use ‘trade negotiations’ to limit domestic policy options.”
US amping up dispute with Canada over allowed exports of American dairy products
26-May-2021 CBC
American producers say Canada is denying them fair access to the Canadian market.
US, Canada, Mexico hold ’robust’ trade deal talks, downplay differences
19-May-2021 Reuters
Trade ministers held "robust" talks on the new North American trade deal and pledged to fully enforce its higher standards, while downplaying differences over a range of other irritants.
US oil service group seeks $100 million from Mexico in arbitration claim
19-May-2021 Reuters
Finley Resources alleges Mexico violated investor protections under the NAFTA trade pact by failing to honor agreements.
US files first trade complaint with Mexico under USMCA
14-May-2021 AP
The USMCA allows a panel to determine whether Mexico is enforcing labor laws that allow workers to choose their union and vote on contracts and union leadership.
US unions lodge first Mexico labor grievance under new NAFTA
10-May-2021 Reuters
The AFL-CIO, the biggest US labor federation, will file the first petition for the US government to bring a labor complaint against Mexico under the USMCA trade deal.
Mexico should follow other countries and refuse excessive powers for foreign investors
23-Apr-2021 Inequality.org
Pakistan is the latest to start withdrawing from international treaties that give corporations the power to sue governments over environmental and public interest regulations.
Can trade work for workers?
20-Apr-2021 Foreign Affairs
Helping left-behind regions should be a core goal of Biden’s administration. The damage has been done, and free trade isn’t going anywhere.
NAFTA-investor lawsuits cost Canada at least $376 million: report
16-Apr-2021 iPolitics
NAFTA-investor lawsuits have cost Canadian taxpayers more than $376 million over the last 25 years, and could cost even more in the years ahead.
The rise and demise of NAFTA Chapter 11
15-Apr-2021 CCPA
The removal of investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) from the renegotiated NAFTA was a critical victory but Canada, the US and Mexico continue to be enmeshed in an extensive web of bilateral and regional accords containing ISDS.
Rehabilitating protection and resituating trade agreements
12-Apr-2021 The Hill
Recent calls for the US to launch a trade dispute over Mexico’s proposed decree to ban glyphosate and the planting and importation of GM corn mischaracterize the science on glyphosate, the decree and the role of US trade policy.
First labor rights claim under the revised NAFTA filed by migrant worker women in the US — what does it mean in terms of the new labor rulebook in the region?
7-Apr-2021 Public Citizen
The complaint represents many organizations’ intentions to test if the revised NAFTA’s labor terms could be an effective tool to improve workers’ conditions.
Women file complaint over gender discrimination in US temporary work programs
26-Mar-2021 Fronteras
A group of Mexican migrant worker women have used the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to launch a complaint over discrimination in temporary labor programs.
Stopping the race to the bottom in trade policy
23-Mar-2021 The American Prospect
Agribusiness giant Bayer/Monsanto claims that Mexico’s proposed restrictions on the active ingredient in its Roundup herbicide violate the country’s trade agreement with the US.
Will new NAFTA block Biden’s progressive regulatory policies?
22-Mar-2021 The Hill
Biden is on the right track in calling for reform. But if the same deregulatory agenda remains in our internationally enforceable trade agreements, Biden’s reforms will come up short, ultimately subverting his agenda and vision.
Trade agreements like NAFTA are a menace to democracy
5-Mar-2021 Jacobin
Free-trade agreements enable companies to sue governments if they interfere with profit-making activities, no matter how destructive. These trade deals put us in an antidemocratic straitjacket — it’s time we got rid of them.
Canadian miner First Majestic wants to resolve its tax dispute with the SAT with international arbitration
3-Mar-2021 MRT
Canadian mining company First Majestic Silver Corp submitted a request for arbitration based on NAFTA, due to the tax debt and its differences with the Mexican government.
US trade nominee says Mexico-Canada pact is priority
25-Feb-2021 UrduPoint
US trade representative nominee Katherine Tai has said implementing the new free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico will be a priority.
Mexican social media plan violates North America trade deal, industry says
10-Feb-2021 Reuters
A Latin American social media industry group that includes Facebook and Twitter said a reform in Mexico would violate an international trade pact, in swift backlash to a draft bill that seeks to regulate social media platforms.