In The News

U.S. Defends Its Farm Subsidies Against Rising Foreign Criticism

Elizabeth Becker June 27, 2002
Thanks to record high US farm subsidies, American farmers can produce cheap crops that drive drown prices in foreign markets. Even though the US maintains that its farm subsidies are within WTO limits, countries around the world believe that the subsidies are contributing to the underdevelopment of agriculture-dependent African and Latin American economies. The US contends that it is trade...

Foreign Distillers Seek to Slake India's Thirst

Saritha Rai May 5, 2002
Diminished social disapproval of alcohol consumption among India's middle class, coupled with a national economy increasingly open to foreign investment, is attracting big foreign distillers to India. For decades, India vigilantly regulated foreign investment, choosing instead to bolster and develop its local industries. With increased pressure from the World Trade Organization (WTO) to...

Leaner Factories, Fewer Workers Bring More Labor Unrest to China

Erik Eckholm March 19, 2002
China’s shift away from economic isolation has begun to take its toll on communist workers. Accustomed to government promises of job security, newly unemployed workers at state-owned factories are voicing their concerns through strikes and large-scale protests. Employees at the Daqing Oil Company were told months ago that the collapse of the oil industry would likely force massive layoffs....

WTO Director-general Warns on Global Trading

Frances Williams November 10, 2001
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is recognized as the major trade organization of the world, but the emergence of many regional trade agreements (RTAs) has posed risks to global trade, according to the WTO director-general Mike Moore. Moore asserts that RTAs are developing their own rules within a specific region, which may make future negotiations at the WTO more difficult. Currently in...

EU Insists on Discussion of Environment Rules

Michael Mann October 7, 2001
The EU farm commissioner, Franz Fischler, wants environmental rules included in the trade talks of the WTO. Fishcler believes that including these rules is a fair trade for the EU’s acceptance of reduced farm subsidies which the WTO hopes to enact. The lower farm subsidies will help developing nations compete in the global market place with the agricultural goods produced by developed nations....