Wednesday, December 2, 2009

US: Renegotiate NAFTA and bilateral FTAs? How about WTO and fast track in Doha?

In the UK, the Tory leader Cameron wants to renegotiate EU laws and competencies.

In the US, a group of US Senators as well as many Reps want Obama to renegotiate NAFTA and other trade agreements!

Do the Senators (TRADE act) and Reps who want Obama to renegotiate NAFTA and 15+ other existing free trade deals also want him to do the same with the existing multilateral WTO (World Trade Organization) rules?

Plus, will they give him fast track powers for negotiating Doha, as GWB had (until mid 2007)? "Fast Track" means that the US Pres. can agree on a deal and then Capitol Hill (House and Senate) can only approve or reject but not amend. Obviously, with such powers, Obama cannot negotiate and conclude a WTO deal in the so called Doha Round of talks that has been lingering on since 2001.

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