Trade Talk Daily
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE FREE TRADE NATION (updates and new stories marked with an *):
- Does ASEAN want trade: The Southeast Asia trade group is looking to firm up ties with Australia, according to the Canberra Times, a matter of discussion on Free Trade Nation. And, while pursuing a deal with India, it has already reached agreement with China and South Korea on reducing some tariffs. But dealing with the EU will be a trickier matter, reports the Bangkok Post. Reportedly, the EU wants to expand talks to include discussions over government transparency and environmental regulations. Thailand, in particular, isn’t interested in covering such matters under any negotiations; Myammar — which has been a particularly nasty actor on the world stage over the past few months — is probably even less likely to subject itself to extensive talks.
- Are bilateral deals real steps towards free trade? So asks Mark Flandreau of ResourceInvestor.com, who takes a look at the history of such deals — including the first treaty to grant Most Favored Nation status to another — and concludes otherwise.
- When will the U.S. approve the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea: Democrat bigwig Leon Panetta and retired admiral James Watkins poses this question to the Democrat-controlled Senate in the San Francisco Chronicle. The possibility of underwater oil resources, along with the push to claim them by Russia and other countries, is making that question more important than first thought. Meanwhile Japan is using the law to clarify its own anti-piracy rules, according to The Daily Yomiuri.
- How is Europe hurting Africa today: Oxford’s Paul Collier argues in The Guardian that the ban on the import of genetically modified foodstuffs has caused African nations — which depend on Europe as a market — to not use the seeds that can help them boost agricultural production. As a result, the food shortages faced by the continent has been exacerbated by thoughtless, inflexible animus against progress. The Guardian’s lefty, anti-GM readers, respond as expected.
