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Across the board

This section contains news and analysis of sweeping developments that affect the overall push and pull towards FTAs and bilateral investment treaties. This means major trends relating to bilateralism, often with global consequences, and other cross-cutting issues. New developments arising from US politics, the WTO or South-South alliance-building, for instance, are often reported here as they tend to have systemic impacts.

last update: May 2012

The legacy of Doha: spaghetti bowl trade
31-Jul-2006    
IN the end Doha died not with a bang but a whimper, with media coverage of its collapse being squeezed off the front pages by the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
Bilateral deals 'mock' Doha
31-Jul-2006    
The Doha round of world trade talks may have collapsed in Geneva last week -- denying the world's developing countries their promised access to global markets -- but leading trade expert Jagdish Bhagwati remains optimistic about the cause of multilateral trade liberalisation.
Regional trade pacts rise to the fore
26-Jul-2006    
Two weeks ago, members of the World Trade Organization agreed on rules that would make it easier to track bilateral and regional trade deals. Negotiators were concerned that the proliferation of such deals would detract from efforts, already faltering, to reach a global trade pact.
The death of the WTO's Doha talks
26-Jul-2006     BBC News
You don't have to declare multilateralism dead, just because this round of talks is over, but there are three particular, potential consequences of the collapse in the talks.
The death of Doha signals the demise of globalisation
13-Jul-2006     The Guardian
The failure to reach agreement on the Doha round suggests the era of multilateral trade agreements is coming to an end.
USTR to press Congress on Oman, Peru, Vietnam trade deals
12-Jul-2006     Dow Jones
US trade officials will concentrate on getting Congress to approve trade agreements with Oman, Peru and Vietnam in the run-up to mid-term elections this autumn, a US trade official said Tuesday.
On the road again: Four goals for the new US Trade Representative
20-Jun-2006    
Susan Schwab began work last week as US Trade Representative (USTR) at a difficult time for free trade.
House could delay major trade votes
14-Jun-2006     Reuters
A group of US lawmakers pushed on Tuesday for a new trade deal with Vietnam, but a senior Republican said Congress may not vote on trade legislation until after November's congressional election.
Bush trade strategy backfires as chances of global pact recede
17-May-2006     Bloomberg
President George W Bush's strategy of using individual accords as stepping stones to a unified, global system of trade may be backfiring.
OWINFS call to action: Stop the WTO's Doha "development" round and other "free trade" negotiations
4-May-2006     OWINFS
We call upon civil society organizations and social movements from around the world to join with us in showing their strong, united and unequivocal opposition to the completion of the World Trade Organization's trade ‘round', and other bilateral and regional Free Trade Agreements being forced on people by governments.