Word: fta
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...rumbling of Chinese competition has been growing steadily louder this month. According to the Bangkok Post, for example, China's consumer appliance giant Haier is planning to take advantage of the FTA by investing $9 million more into its factories in Thailand to churn out more fridges, washing machines and air conditioners. Indonesia is so jittery by the prospect of such moves that the country's Trade Minister, Mari Pangestu, has notified the secretariat of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) that Jakarta wants to delay the inclusion of hundreds of domestically produced items like textiles, food products and electronics...
...seen clearly in the continuing stream of agreements tying together regional powers. In August, India inked two FTAs in a week, with South Korea and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN and China are scheduled to bring most of the final tariff reductions of an FTA signed in 2004 into full effect by 2010. More deals are likely. Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has made his policy priority reaching a comprehensive economic framework with China that would reduce tariffs on Taiwan goods entering the Chinese market. Yukio Hatoyama, Japan's presumptive Prime Minister, has even proposed...
Even though at this point there do not appear to be enough legislators backing passage, Gutierrez says he wants the Colombia FTA to at least be given a chance for a vote. "We can get the votes for Colombia," he said. But by his own admission it will take "a lot of hard work and a lot of convincing." And it will probably take a few more visits to that hilltop library...
...FTA proponents say the best way for Colombia to continue to make progress on freedom and democracy is through economic growth and the engagement that comes with a trade deal. "The FTA allows internal observation of what's happening in Colombia," said Gutierrez. The agreement has special protocols that require Colombia to uphold international labor rights standards. "What I don't understand is how labor will be helped if there is no FTA...
...seek convictions," says Jose Luciano Sanin, director of the Escuela Nacional Sindical, a labor rights group that tracks violence against Colombia's labor movement. "All of a sudden, with this external pressure, impunity in union cases has become a priority because it is a condition for approval of the FTA...