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  1. Negotiations

:: 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

US sugar policy: Sweet for a few, sour for most
3-Nov-2014     WSJ
New restrictions on Mexican sugar imports undermine the government’s negotiating position in free trade talks.
Legacy: De Gucht negotiated two rigged ISDS chapters
3-Nov-2014     Vrijschrift
On 15 September Vrijschrift informed the European Parliament international trade committee that investor-to-state arbitration (ISDS) in the draft trade agreement with Canada is rigged to the advantage of the US. Today Vrijschrift informed the committee the same is true for the draft trade agreement with Singapore.
BRICS: la création d’une zone de libre-échange peu probable (expert)
30-Oct-2014     RIA Novosti
La mise en place d’une zone de libre-échange au sein du BRICS étant peu probable, les pays membres doivent plutôt renforcer leurs échanges bilatéraux, annonce le gouvernement brésilien
European action day: citizens in 22 countries demand "Stop TTIP, CETA and TiSA"
11-Oct-2014     11 October Stop-TTIP-CETA-TiSA Alliance
On a European day of action against the free trade agreements TTIP, CETA and TiSA, thousands of citizens took to the streets with more than 1100 public activities in 22 European countries.
Teamsters make case against bad trade deals to top Democratic senators
19-Sep-2014     Teamsters
The Teamsters labour union told key US senators that secret 'trade' deals like TPP and TISA threaten government workers' jobs by opening them up to irreversible privatization by multinationals.
Economist Jeffrey Sachs says NO to TPP and TAFTA trade deals
16-Sep-2014     Huffington Post
Jeffrey Sachs, world-renowned professor of economics, lays out five reasons why the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement should not be passed or ratified.
ISDS: The devil in the trade deal
14-Sep-2014     ABC
A common provision allowing foreign investors to sue host governments has become a ticking time bomb inside trade agreements. Some countries are now refusing to agree to the provision and are questioning its legal legitimacy. Jess Hill investigates.
550+ US groups reject fast-track trade promotion authority
11-Sep-2014     Sierra Club
Nearly 600 US organizations led by the Sierra Club, AFL-CIO, the Communications Workers of America, the Citizens Trade Campaign, and Public Citizen sent a letter to Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) firmly rejecting fast-track trade promotion authority and calling for a new system for negotiating and implementing trade agreements.
Small countries no say on trade pact
1-Sep-2014     Brunei Times
A recent report shows that small countries eager to join mega-regionals trade deals like the TPP could dock into the agreement but they would not have much say.
Plundering the planet: Rigged corporate “free trade partnerships” and “climate change agreements”
27-Aug-2014     Global Research
What do rigged corporate trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris Treaty, an international climate agreement to be signed in 2015, have in common?

Referenced sites

21st Century Trade Agreements: Implications for Long-Run Development Policy

A publication of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The paper examines the policy space available under various free t...

#A18DoA - Global day of action to defeat free trade and investment treaties

Website for the global day of action to defeat free trade and investment treaties #A18DoA

Alianza Social Continental

La Alianza Social Continental es un foro de organizaciones y movimientos sociales progresistas de las Américas, creado para intercambiar información, definir...

ICC

International Chamber of Commerce

Movimientos.org

A multilingual (English, Spanish, Portuguese) website focusing on social movements and their campaigns, including those against bilateral and regional FTAs.

Pambazuka

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other e...

People over profit

People Over Profit is a campaign network that unites peoples movements and NGOs across the globe to stop free trade agreements (FTAs) and corporate plunder, ...

Peoples Global Action

In February 1998, movements from all continents met in Geneva to launch a worldwide coordination of resistances to the global market, a new alliance of strug...

Regional/Multilateral Integration Agreements

Selected research papers on regional trade agreements, from internationaleconomics.net

SOMO

SOMO links the negotiations and rules on international trade and investment with the actual conduct of corporations within these rules and agreements.

South Centre

An intergovernmental organisation of developing countries

Stop fast track!

10 days to stop fast track in the United States: Jan 22 - 31 2014