ISDS Case Map
bilateralism & multilateralism
how bilateral, multilateral, regional, unilateral and plurilateral approaches relate (e.g. FTAs vis-à-vis WTO)
The government wants to have it both ways with its trade diplomacy this year, focusing on bilateral free trade agreements in the first half and multilateral negotiations at the World Trade Organization in the second.
Far from being a stepping stone to freer trade, the NAFTA and other regional and bilateral trade deals have created a conflicting web of preferential arrangements that may be impeding rather than spurring trade, the authors of a report commissioned by the World Trade Organization have concluded.
Trade Minister Mark Vaile today defended Australia's free trade deals with foreign countries after a new World Trade Organisation (WTO) report said such agreements could be discriminatory.
The World Trade Organisation is being undermined by the intransigence and short-sightedness of its member countries, according to the report of a high-level commission released on Monday.
Now that Trade Representative Robert Zoellick is moving to the State Department as Condoleezza Rice's deputy, U.S. trade policy may see a shift from small bilateral pacts back to big, sweeping multilateral trade agreements.
The main aims of the week are to challenge the free trade myth, put forward our alternatives, strengthen the already existing trade campaigns and show the strength of the global movement, campaigning in solidarity.
Unilateralism, in which the largest economies, notably the United States, impose their will on smaller ones, is the main driver for the proliferation of bilateral trade agreements and represents a growing risk for the global economy, according to Joseph Stiglitz, the 2001 Nobel laureate for economics.
This paper evaluates a possible US-SACU (Southern African Customs Union) free trade agreement as part of a US approach to new preferential trade agreements characterized by the term 'competitive liberalization.'
The government on Tuesday approved a basic plan to promote free-trade agreements, prioritizing accords with Asian trading partners to help build an East Asian community. It also adopted a set of 12 criteria to choose potential FTA partners, envisioning future negotiations with trading partners outside East Asia.
This report looks at major Customs Unions, Free Trade Areas, and economic
association agreements around the world, with particular attention to any clauses
covering social issues, core labour standards and trade union participation.
