NAFTA

Kerry Announces Edwards As Running Mate

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Tuesday selected former rival John Edwards to be his running mate, calling the rich former trial lawyer and rookie senator a man who showed "guts and determination and political skill" in his unsuccessful race against Kerry for the party's nomination.

Making Sense of Global Chaos

Trying to divine how geopolitical gyrations will impact financial markets and economies is a challenging task. That's why business is booming for Richard Medley, head of Washington, D.C.-based research boutique Medley Global Advisers.

New Farm Powers Sow the Seeds Of America's Agricultural Woes

On a vast, windy plain, a farmer swells with optimism as he surveys a carpet of wheat stretching toward the horizon. Bankers are throwing money at him to reap bigger harvests. Grain traders are elbowing their way to his front door, eager to export his wheat. Last year, he marvels, "they sold it to the Arab Emirates."

UNCTAD Warns Of Failure To Reduce Poverty In LDCs

Least developed countries (LDCs) are likely to become "the major locus of extreme poverty in the world economy by 2015" if without a strong link between trade and poverty reduction, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has warned.

El Salvador Scarred by Child Labor

EL CHAPARRAL, El Salvador -- Jesus Franco, 14, has scars crisscrossing his legs from his ankles to his thighs, and more on his small hands. For more than half of his young life, he's spent long days cutting sugar cane. He has the machete scars to prove it, and so do his four brothers and sisters, age 9 to 19, all of whom work in the sweltering cane fields.

In Mexico, Sugar vs. U.S. Corn Syrup

Along the sooty gangways and rickety catwalks of the Emiliano Zapata sugar mill, sweat-soaked workers operate presses, vats and ovens in a process that has changed little since the mill's first harvest in 1938. From a distance, the mill's chimney sprouts from the cane fields of this verdant part of central Mexico, where sugar has been cultivated since the time of the conquistadors.

U.S. Group Plans Frontal Attack On NAFTA

With its subsidy case against Canadian softwood lumber all but blown out of the water by NAFTA's dispute settlement panels, the U.S. Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports and its supporters are now looking at re-invigorating their frontal attack on NAFTA itself.

Developing Nations Plan Talks For Ending Tariffs

Developing countries will launch trade negotiations next week that most likely will focus on eliminating tariffs in certain sectors, a top Argentine official said yesterday.

Panel Rejects a U.S. Levy

The United States must rework duties on $4.6 billion a year in Canadian lumber imports because the tariffs were incorrectly computed, a North American Free Trade Agreement panel said Monday, for the second time.

Gm Planning To Double Car Production

Leading global automaker General Motors (GM) yesterday unveiled plans to more than double its production capacity in China over the next three years. GM said it will invest more than US $ 3 billion in its China-based joint ventures, with the cash mainly coming from profits generated by these ventures, lifting its total investment in China to US $ 5 billion.