A lawmaker of the pro-government Uri Party Monday raised various suspicions over the landmark free trade agreement (FTA) deal struck between South Korea and the United States on April 2.
President Roh Moo-hyun's popularity has shot up recently. From surveys done by Korean media from The Hankyoreh to the Chosun Ilbo, every poll says his approval rating has surpassed 30 percent. It is not easy for a president to have his approval rise towards the end of his term, so the cause for all of this can be attributed to the recently inked FTA with the United States.
Korea and China are moving swiftly toward negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement. China's courtship of Korea has intensified since Seoul clinched an FTA with the US last Monday, with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao expressing hope last Thursday that an FTA between Beijing and Seoul can be concluded
as soon possible".
Developments over the past few days have re-confirmed that the developing countries are more eager than developed countries to break the deadlock in multilateral trade. The developing countries have shown ample flexibility, without waiting for a response from the developed world.
Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont dismissed criticism of his signing the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) as voiced by various sectors in Thailand.
Trinidad and Tobago should rethink its position on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and instead examine Latin American proposals on the formation of a Latin American-Caribbean trade grouping. Government, it seems, continues to believe that we can still be selected as the headquarters of the FTAA.
Sugar cane farmers have added their voice to demands that Government seeks an extension of the Comesa moratorium, which comes into effect from early next year. The Kenya Sugarcane Grower's Union officials petitioned President Kibaki to lead the extension campaign to enable local factories and market get ready to compete with the imports from the region.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has been lobbying United States politicians to gain their support for free-trade talks, despite his party's scepticism over such deals in the past.
Trouble. Government has failed to seal a textile tax-free export extension deal with the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) which now means over 6,000 jobs in the textile industry in the country face uncertain future, Economic Report can reveal.
President General Pervez Musharraf on Saturday stressed the need for initiation of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Pakistan and the United States to strengthen the bilateral relations by boosting trade and investment links.
The international trade tide is turning in a dangerous direction for Australia.
The new deal carved out by the US and South Korea last week, just minutes before President George Bush's trade negotiating powers expired, is a massive one.
The free trade agreement the United States signed with South Korea last week could be the most important step in the nation's trade policy since the North American Free Trade Agreement. It could symbolize a shift away from global trade negotiations, which were supposed to help poor countries grow, to the bilateral option, the only game in town right now.
On April 6, a special committee of the National Assembly set up to monitor the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA), waged fierce debate over their evaluation of the deal as well as any needed countermeasures.
