ISDS Case Map
bilateralism & multilateralism
how bilateral, multilateral, regional, unilateral and plurilateral approaches relate (e.g. FTAs vis-à-vis WTO)
FTAs are worse than the WTO because they demand much more, writes Amit Sengupta
Late last week, a longstanding debate over free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama — deals that were negotiated under President George W. Bush but never finalized — stalled once again. President Obama supports the agreements, but only if more retraining for workers is part of the deal, a condition Republican leaders are resisting.
The World Trade Organization's chief on Wednesday took aim at the growing number of small free-trade deals being signed among the group's 153 member nations, saying such deals could limit opportunities with countries outside the group.
India may agree in the WTO negotiations to cut tariff in specific sectors in which the country is, any way, slashing duties under Free Trade Agreements with different countries and blocs, a Commerce Ministry official said today.
With the demise of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, a realignment of trade alliances is evident in the hemisphere—witness ALBA, Petro Caribe, expanded Mercosur. In the aftermath of the Lome Convention between the European Union and its former colonies of Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific, the age of preferential trade agreements came to an end and the era of reciprocal trade was born.
The decade-old Doha round of World Trade Organization negotiations may have to be revamped or ended, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said.
Before mid-year South Africa would host the next summit on the establishment of a Trilateral Free Trade Agreement (T-FTA) among the regional economic groupings of the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
South Africa is considering bilateral trade agreements with Japan, Turkey and New Zealand, but a preferential trade agreement with India, currently under negotiation, is enjoying priority, said Brendan Vickers, a chief director at the department of trade and industry.
Given the changing international trade environment, India needs to strike the right balance between regionalism and multilateralism.
The fate of the multilateral Doha Round talks to come up with an outline agreement for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by July rests in the hands of both developed and developing economies, said European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.
