Archive

When the free trade agreement with the United States kicked in a year ago, Bill Rush saw his big chance. His company, Australian Defence Apparel, makes ceramic plates to be worn over bulletproof vests to protect troops against armour-piercing fire. The Australian-owned company has beaten German and Israeli competition to supply the British Army and London Metropolitan Police with its plates. The prospect of a $40 million-plus sale to the US Army beckoned.

U.S. farm groups disappointed with the result of the Hong Kong ministerial say they will oppose a future Doha round deal and reduced subsidies in a new farm bill unless a multilateral deal produces real market access gains, particularly in developing countries.

A world trade ruling in a high-stakes row between the European Union and the United States and others over genetically modified crops has been delayed and is unlikely before February, trade diplomats said on Wednesday

Government figures show Australian exports to the US have fallen since the US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) came into force a year ago. In the 12 months to October last year, Australian exports to the United States fell by 4.7 per cent while US imports rose by 5.7 per cent.

Today (30 Dec), 14 people who participated in the protest against the WTO were produced in court again. Since there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the protestors, the court had to adjourn and the case was rescheduled for 11 Jan 2006.

Argentina's Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana Dec. 21 said insufficient progress on farm trade liberalization at the latest round of World Trade Organization talks held in Hong Kong bode badly for the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas

Trade ministers at the World Trade Organization's Dec. 13-18 ministerial meeting in Hong Kong agreed to set a new deadline for completing the Doha Round of trade talks by the end of 2006, but many observers are skeptical that the negotiations, which are stalled in several areas, can be completed by then.

This is a report of the four press conferences that were held after the closing session of the WTO

In contrast to statements by several governments who hailed the WTO