NAFTA Archives

MEXICO: Is the Freeing Up of Agricultural Trade Really New?

The elimination of all barriers to imported maize under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will ruin Mexico’s rural areas, according to activists and small farmers who are demanding that the measure be revoked. But the free market which opened on Jan. 1 has in fact been in effect for the past nine years.

CHALLENGES 2007-2008: Lowering Mexico’s Drawbridge to US Maize and Beans

By IPS Correspondents

On Jan. 1, the Mexican market will be thrown wide open to imports of maize, beans, powdered milk and sugar from the United States, completing a process that began 14 years ago, in which its impoverished rural sector must compete with a powerful and heavily subsidised foreign rival.

CARIBBEAN: Trade Winds Gusting as Region Faces WTO Meet

By IPS Correspondents

Recent developments in international trade highlight the difficulties facing the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) as it prepares for a key World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Hong Kong this December.

DEVELOPMENT: Think Tank Urges Closer Ties Among NAFTA Trifecta

By Jim Lobe

To consolidate North American integration, the region's leaders must reverse the growing development gap between Canada and the United States on the one hand, and Mexico on the other, according to a "Chairmen's Statement" by an influential task force released here Monday.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: In the U.S., Polls and Bullets Blot Out Upcoming Summit

By IPS Correspondents

Activists from the United States are heading to Brazil for the upcoming World Social Forum, determined to refute the widespread belief that their country has "gone Republican". They’re also in search of fresh inspiration for the fight against the exploitation of people, and natural resources.

TRADE: North American Leaders ‘Micro-Managing’ Environment Deal

By Marty Logan

The North American environment would be better off if governments agreed to set aside a section of the continent's free trade deal that lets them pursue one another for not enforcing their laws, says a review of the deal's "green" accord.

CANADA-US: Customs Union Could Have Big Political Price – Experts

By Paul Weinberg

A possible customs union between this country and the United States, dismissed as the speculation of technical feasibility studies by Canadian government bureaucrats, could have enormous economic and political implications, warn some observers.

TRADE-CANADA: Numbers Up, Workers Down After 10 Years of NAFTA

By IPS Correspondents

North America's trade deal drove down the real wages of Canadian workers by about 20 percent - if they did not lose their jobs altogether, says globalisation critic Murray Dobbin, author of a critical book about Canada's new prime minister, Paul Martin.

TRADE: North American Deal Dismal After a Decade

By Emad Mekay

After 10 years a deal that all sides say transformed trade and investment rules in North America has still produced far fewer positive results than originally promised, according to its critics.

TRADE: A Mixed Decade for NAFTA Environment Accord

By IPS Correspondents

The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) is the only such mechanism in the world to accompany a free trade treaty. For 10 years it has been at the forefront in keeping an open channel to citizens, but it shows signs of weakness amidst the overwhelming force of international commerce.

TRADE-LATAM: Activists Predict Increase in Street Vendors

By IPS Correspondents

Critics of the impact of free trade agreements on Latin America, especially the projected effects of the FTAA, say the number of street vendors will increase in the region's large cities.

TRADE: U.S. Reaches Pact With Central American Nations

By Emad Mekay

The United States and four Central American countries reached a so-called free trade agreement (FTA) on Wednesday, a deal critics say will cost U.S. jobs and transfer wealth from the already impoverished Latin nations to U.S. corporations.

TRADE: World Bank Lauds North American Deal’s Impact on Mexico

By Emad Mekay

Contradicting a number of recent studies and findings by independent think tanks and activists, the World Bank says the controversial North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has spurred economic development in Mexico.

TRADE: Broad Coalition Vows to Fight U.S.-Central America Pact

By Emad Mekay

Representatives from trade unions, human rights and civil society groups joined U.S. legislators Tuesday in denouncing a free trade deal the United States is negotiating with five Central American nations as an official failure to address labour, environmental and public health concerns.

TRADE: Farmers Say Food Must Be Dropped From Gov’ts Deal-Making

By IPS Correspondents

Farmers and peasant groups around the world are pressing the concept of 'food sovereignty' as a challenge to the World Trade Organisation's agriculture policies, which they say push millions of small farmers off their land and lead to food insecurity.

TRADE: Report Damns El Salvador Labour Rights on Eve of U.S. Deal

By Jim Lobe

Workers' rights guarantees in a proposed Central American trade pact must be strengthened, according to Human Rights Watch, which says it has documented systematic abuses by businesses of labour rights in El Salvador.

TRADE-AMERICAS: Civil Society Leery of FTAA’s New Path

By IPS Correspondents

Ministers from 34 countries of the Americas have stated their support for a hemisphere-wide free trade agreement that allows each nation to make commitments "a la carte", an approach that civil society groups say veils the deep differences that remain and sidesteps the urgency of fighting poverty in the region.