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TNC: Supachai Downplays Expectations for July, Focus Now on Hong Kong
The WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), chaired by Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, convened for a half-day meeting on 19 May to take stock of progress in the Doha Round. Although he welcomed a preliminary deal at a recent mini-ministerial allowing forward movement on agriculture, Supachai urged delegates to speed up their talks, saying that the overall…
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Textiles Debate Heats Up; China Imposes New Export Duties
The Chinese government on 20 May attempted to ease trade tensions with the US and the EU by raising export tariffs on textiles to up to five times their previous levels, although it said that these restrictions would not apply to categories subject to import restrictions. Nonetheless, on 23 May the US government imposed safeguard…
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Groser Forced To Resign As WTO Ambassador, May Stay On As AG Chair
The New Zealand government has relieved Tim Groser, Chair of the WTO Committee on Agriculture and its Cotton Sub-Committee, of his post as the country’s WTO Ambassador following his announcement that he would stand as a candidate for the opposition centre-right National Party in upcoming national elections. The 23 May decision was in accordance with…
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In Memoriam
On May 20, 2005, Konrad von Moltke, PhD, passed away in Vermont after a courageous battle with cancer. Dr. von Moltke, a Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), was one of the world’s leading thinkers on the relationship between sustainable development and international trade and investment.…
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Vacancies
The Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University seeks a research associate who specializes in analyses of the effects of trade and investment liberalization on development in Latin America. The associate will conduct such work as part of a larger project that draws lessons from the Latin American experience for ongoing trade negotiations in…
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US to Impost Textiles Safeguard on China
The US has decided to impose quotas on three categories of textiles and clothing imports from China. The 13 May announcement came after investigations showed that the imports were causing market disruption. The surprisingly quick decision to restrict imports came only four days after the 9 May expiry of the public comment period for the investigations…
- In Brief
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In Brief
JAPAN AND MALAYSIA SIGN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi met on 25 May to sign a free trade pact designed to eliminate tariffs on USD 27 billion in goods, as well as some liberalisation of trade in services. The deal constitutes an agreement in principle on…
- Events
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EVENTS For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD's web calendar. If you would like to submit an event, please email us.
Coming Up: 26 May - 1 June 27-28 May, Edinburgh, United Kingdom: REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS AND THE WTO LEGAL SYSTEM. ILA British Branch 2005 Spring Conference. This conference aims to analyse and compare different regional trade agreements (RTAs), and investigating the areas of potential legal conflict between RTAs and the…
- Resources
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Resources
A SOUTHERN AGENDA ON INVESTMENT? PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT WITH BALANCED RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS FOR INVESTORS, HOST STATES AND HOME STATES. By Howard Mann and Konrad von Moltke. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2005. This report is one of, if not the first, deliberate effort to look at how to approach international investment negotiations based on an…