In The News

More Heat Than Light Shed on GM Corn

Kenneth Emmond November 30, 2004
Genetically modified (GM) corn has ballooned into a major source of debate between the United States and Mexico. However, the public has a surprisingly muddled grasp of the situation. Respected news agencies have drawn completely opposite conclusions from the same NAFTA research report. According to this columnist, confusion is only natural, because the safety of GM products is not the real point...

Brazil Gives China Early X-Mas Present...

John Fitzpatrick November 23, 2004
Chinese president Hu Jintao’s visit to Brazil in this past week was highly successful: Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva formally recognized China as a “market economy,” foregoing the power to block “dumped” Chinese imports. The Chinese government is notorious for subsidizing national industries and “dumping” the products into foreign markets. Thanks to the subsidies, these exports...

Fox in the Americas

Fred Rosen November 22, 2004
Mexican President Vicente Fox looks to be carving a unique diplomatic role for himself in US-Americas relations. Meeting with Central and South American leaders, Fox is pushing to strengthen Mexican and Latin American ties to bolster bargaining power with the United States. Mexico's position as primary broker, however, may be challenged by the prospect of a South American Community of...

Warning Issued on GM Maize Imported to Mexico

Mike Shanahan November 16, 2004
A report released by an environment panel under the North American Free Trade Agreement announced that GM maize imported to Mexico should be handled with caution. New genes contained in American maize could "persist indefinitely if they are beneficial or neutral to the local varieties," according to the report. The quantity of this kind of genetic transfer, however, is relatively small...

Report: GM Corn No Big Danger

Will Weissert November 9, 2004
Genetically modified (GM) corn is not a threat to Mexican ecosystems, according to a report by a NAFTA environmental watchdog group. Most American GM corn has been engineered to repel pests, and critics warned that original Mexican corn species would be rapidly eliminated by natural selection. However, the new report points out that the American corn has not been modified to survive Mexican pests...

US Trade Policy: Legacy of the Sorcerer's Apprentice

Bernard K. Gordon November 5, 2004
As US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick prepares to depart the Bush administration, his record should prompt a re-evaluation of US trade policy. Under Zoellick, the US has negotiated Free-Trade Areas (FTAs) with 12 countries – and is in the process of negotiating 10 more. While FTAs can be an effective means of spurring progress when global trade is floundering, argues Professor Bernard K....

Textile Quotas to End, Punishing Carolina Towns

Elizabeth Becker November 2, 2004
With the global textile quota system coming to an end in early 2005, the potential winners and losers of the previous system are becoming apparent. While several big developing countries specializing in the textiles will have the largest shares of the US$495 billion textile trade regime, others – whether industrialized countries like the US or under-developed countries like Cambodia – will see...