Free Republic

Hong Kong This tiny outpost of radical thinking is an excellent vantage point for the recent collapse of the multilateral trade negotiations. Hong Kong is essentially irrelevant to trade talks because it practices unilateral free trade, with virtually no tariffs or other barriers. People here understand that imports, exports and the rigors of comparative advantage create individual opportunity and wealth. Enough, in Hong Kong's case, for it to have evolved under almost pure free trade from a rocky harbor into one of the wealthiest places on earth. But don't some industries in Hong Kong seek government protection? Don't some bureaucrats...

Critics have long believed environmentalists were planning global domination. The problem with making a credible case against such an ambitious plan was simple: no environmental leader had published one. Yet conflicts over global warming, world trade, multinational corporations, population control, sustainable futures, and transnational government left little doubt that environmentalists in fact shared the unspoken aim of wielding supreme power over a green future. But there was no proof. For years, critics, lacking hard evidence, were reduced to piecing together a jigsaw puzzle of suspicious environmentalist actions - funding from huge charitable trusts, ties to the broader "progressive" community, and...

North American Union to Get Firmed Up in Secrecy at Meeting in Canada "Information is the currency of democracy." Thomas Jefferson American citizens have learned of some secretive groups in the country which are given great autonomy. Some are authorized by our government, but have little oversight, and some have not been authorized by our government, but seize authority just because they can. One example of this is the secretive CFIUS, Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States. When the plans to turn over operation of six ports to Dubai Ports World became public, (with no thanks to the...

APPARENTLY Wal-Mart doesn't just bring new business to foriegn countries; it also brings new business culture. A new NBER paper by Beata Smarzynska Javorcik, Wolfgang Keller, and James Tybout looks at how the Mexican soap, detergent, and surfactants ("SDS") industry fared under NAFTA and GATT. They found that the industry experienced gains in productivity and acquired a greater share of the US market—about what you would expect from opening markets. What was unexpected was that the benefits didn't just come from lower costs of trade and the exposure to competition from foreign producers. In fact, the biggest gains came from...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab welcomed Mexico’s revocation of antidumping duties on U.S. long grain white rice. Mexico took this action after the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed with the United States that the duties were contrary to WTO rules. "We are pleased that Mexico has revoked the antidumping duties on U.S. rice," said Ambassador Schwab. "We thought the duties were inconsistent with WTO rules, and the WTO agreed. Mexico was the largest export market for U.S. rice in 2005. The action by Mexico is a great result for U.S. rice farmers, and another example of...

Although most provisions of the current U.S. farm bill won't expire until September 2007, a group of senators recently proposed extending it until after the Doha Round of global trade negotiations is complete. Extending the farm bill -- damaging though it is -- will "send a signal to our trading partners," says one of the legislation's sponsors. It certainly will. At a time when leadership in the global trade talks is sadly lacking and desperately needed, the signal will be a big fat raspberry. An extension will also delay for yet another year the opportunity to reform a policy that...

Next time you're in a bottleneck on Interstate 35 and want to cuss someone, consider this: Those most responsible probably aren't within earshot. They include former President Clinton, whose signing of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement paved the way for a surge in truck traffic; Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines, who helped convince then-Gov. Ann Richards to pull support for high-speed rail plans; and Ric Williamson, who as a member of the state House Appropriations Committee in the 1980s played a key role in diverting state gas taxes, a third of which now don't go to transportation. Such...

The New GOP Betrays America Diane Alden Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005 The biblical truth "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" described my state of mind on July 27, 2005. That was when the House Republican leadership stopped the clock on the CAFTA vote because they didn't like the way it was going. It gets more and more difficult to write about politics. The hope some of us placed in Republicans was misplaced. We had hope they might make a small attempt to lead this nation back to constitutional government: limited government. Hoping Republicans will be conservative, constitutional or less venal...

Two years ago, our tireless troubadour of globalism, the Wall Street Journal, was beside itself with giddiness and excitement. "A Free Trade Majority" is born, said the Journal, hailing as midwife Nancy Pelosi for leading a third of all House Democrats behind free-trade pacts with Chile and Singapore. The Journal mocked the 27 GOP dissidents as union poodles, Northeast liberals, textile-state reactionaries and "protectionists of the Pat Buchanan stripe [who] could fit into a phone booth." Well, something is slouching toward Washington to be born, all right. But it does not appear to be a free trade majority. Here is...

The "unConstitutional" Transfer of Powerand the Nullification Party an American Patriot July 30, 2005       On July 28, 2005 in "A "Treaty" by any other name is still a "TREATY," I questioned the constitutionality of the President entering an "agreement" without the 2/3rds vote of the Senate under Article II or the power of the President to introduce legislation to "regulate commerce" to Congress under Article I which vests that power to Congress.       I have since learned that CAFTA "legislation" was introduced under the Presidents "fast track authority." Since 1974, Presidents have used "fast-track authority" to negotiate foreign...

The June payroll jobs report did not receive much attention due to the July 4 holiday, but the depressing 21st century job performance of the U.S. economy continues unabated. Only 144,000 private sector jobs were created, each one of which was in domestic services. Fifty-six thousand jobs were created in professional and business services, about half of which are in administrative and waste services. Thirty-eight thousand jobs were created in education and health services, almost all of which are in health care and social assistance. Nineteen thousand jobs were created in leisure and hospitality, almost all of which are waitresses...

WASHINGTON - The House narrowly approved the Central American Free Trade Agreement early Thursday, a personal triumph for President Bush, who campaigned aggressively for the accord he said would foster prosperity and democracy in the hemisphere. The 217-215 vote just after midnight adds six Latin American countries to the growing lists of nations with free trade agreements with the United States and averts what could have been a major political embarrassment for the Bush administration. It was an uphill effort to win a majority, with Bush traveling to Capitol Hill earlier in the day to appeal to wavering Republicans to...

Washington, DC – “Buy American” laws and similar state and federal legislation would be gutted by CAFTA procurement rules that prohibit all laws that give a preference to domestic or local businesses according to U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood, who says CAFTA Article 9 overturns every state and federal law that requires federal, state, and local government agencies to buy American products, or use American workforces. CAFTA Article 9.2. No Party (Nation) may treat a locally established supplier any less favorably than another locally established supplier on the basis of degree of foreign affiliation or ownership, or …on the basis that...

India is likely to open its market for quota-and duty-free access of LDC products before the coming WTO ministerial meet slated for December 13-18 in Hong Kong, in compliance of international trade rules, reports UNB. The Indian side gave the hint at the fifth WTO mini-ministerial meeting in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, according to message received in Dhaka on Thursday. The three-day meeting concluded today (Thursday). Bangladesh at the July 12-14 Dalian round of talks strongly demanded of the developing and advanced developing counties to provide quota-and duty-free access of agriculture and non-agriculture products of the least developed...

TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- "CAFTA is NAFTA on steroids," said Kent Snyder, executive director of The Liberty Committee, a group whose motto is "Political Action From Principle." Affiliated with congressional representative Ron Paul, R-Texas -- who also opposes the Central American Free Trade Agreement-Dominican Republic -- the committee holds that CAFTA-DR, like the decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement isn't really about true free trade; it's about global managed trade. "Think about it," Snyder said. "Why does it take over 1,000 pages to define free trade?" In administrative works for several years CAFTA would create a NAFTA-like free trade zone...

CAFTA, the “Central American Free Trade Agreement” is being sold as a “free trade agreement” between the US and several nations in the Central American region. What is it and what does it matter to you? CAFTA is really not about “free trade.” “Free trade” is the bait. The hook, the catch, is regional government. Free trade is really unregulated, unimpeded trade. This is not what CAFTA is about. CAFTA will increase trade regulation between the US and Central America, not decrease it. Take a look at the hundreds of pages of regulations listed in the CAFTA charter. This is...

On the 4th of July, 1776, the Congress of the United States of America formally renounced subjection to the government of Great Britain. That was a long, long time ago. Generations of Americans have come and gone and much has been forgotten regarding the sacrifices of those who put it on the line so that we might inherit Freedom and Liberty in our One Nation Under God, independent of any other nation or government. Many who enjoy the Liberty our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution provide have received it free of charge and without sacrificing one thing. Although I...

WASHINGTON - United States Trade Representative Rob Portman announced that a WTO panel has sided with the United States in an agricultural dispute involving Mexican antidumping duties on U.S. long grain white rice. In its report issued yesterday, the WTO panel agreed with the United States that Mexico's antidumping duties on rice and various provisions of its antidumping and countervailing duty laws are contrary to WTO rules. Mexico is an important and growing export market for U.S. rice farmers. In 2004, Mexico imported approximately $183 million of rice from the United States. "This is a great result for American...

Yes, gas prices have soared, but they're still 34 percent below 1980 levels. Housing and baseball tickets are another story. HOUSTON – We groan when our grandparents go on about Coca-Cola costing only a nickel in their day. How did things become so much more expensive, they always want to know? Here's the short answer: With inflation factored in, that same bottle of Coke during World War II would cost roughly what we pay for it today. Eggs, milk, and bread now cost less. But when the subject of gasoline comes up, we sound like our elders. How did it...

Is the world indeed moving toward a "new world order," a "one world government"? You may not like to think so, but it's difficult not to give this serious consideration. For those of you old enough, you may recall an ad campaign back in the 1950s and '60s that wanted to "Get the U.S. out of the UN," partly because there was concern that U.S. sovereignty might be compromised by decisions made by the United Nations. The ad campaign sponsors wanted to make sure that no world government would be making decisions on behalf of the U.S., or imposing its...

March 14, 2005-Three former high-ranking government officials from Canada, Mexico, and the United States are calling for a North American economic and security community by 2010 to address shared security threats, challenges to competitiveness, and interest in broad-based development across the three countries. Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance John P. Manley, former Finance Minister of Mexico Pedro Aspe, and former Governor of Massachusetts and Assistant U.S. Attorney General William F. Weld make policy recommendations to articulate a long-term vision for North America in a Chairmen's Statement of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North...

Maisto offers suggestions to improve draft Summit declaration Preparations for the Fourth Summit of the Americas, to be hosted by Argentina in November, are off to a good start, but work still remains for Western Hemisphere nations as they craft a summit declaration and plan of action, according to U.S. National Summit Coordinator John Maisto. In March 25 remarks at the Civil Society Task Force "Summit in Focus" Program in Washington, Maisto said that a recent Summit Implementation Review Group meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, marked the beginning of negotiations toward a summit declaration and plan of action. The U.S....

A battle is heating up over the proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement, which could come before Congress for a vote as early as this spring or summer. The nation's 19-state cane and beet sugar industry, including sugar cane growers and processors in Palm Beach County, say the pact threatens the 146,000 jobs created by U.S. sugar production. "We are doing everything we can to defeat CAFTA," said Carolyn Cheney, Washington representative for the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida in Belle Glade. "We believe CAFTA is another NAFTA in disguise." Meanwhile, the debate is expected to begin in earnest...

President Bush's nomination of Paul Wolfowitz to lead the World Bank is an inspired choice. It suggests that the president's commitment to spreading democracy is not merely rhetorical. It shows also that he recognizes that democracy involves more than the ballot box. Institutional reforms that encourage development of markets, the rule of law, protection of human and property rights, and openness to trade -- all these sustain democracy by giving people opportunity, hope and higher living standards.Competitive markets and rule of law help to reduce corruption, a problem everywhere but especially acute in developing countries. World Bank estimates suggest...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Tuesday the World Trade Organization had ruled in its favor in a dispute with the United States over the EU's system for protecting food and drink denominations. "Rejecting the arguments of the United States and Australia, the WTO rules that the EU's system [that is, socialism] for protecting these names is essentially compatible with WTO rules," the European Commission said in a statement.

Adding fuel to the debate before a congressional vote, a poll released Tuesday showed a majority of Americans oppose the proposed U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement known as CAFTA. Only 32 percent support the agreement. The main concern among 800 respondents polled by phone in early February: potential job losses and economic damage in the United States.

Just as Brazil and the United States try to revive stalled negotiations for a Free Trade Area of the Americas, a stumbling block has emerged for the formation of the world's biggest free trade area: Cuba has asked to become an associate member of the US$727 billion ([euro]554 billion) Mercosur trade bloc. Mercosur's full-fledged members - Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay - must decide by consensus whether Cuba can join, new Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez told reporters in Montevideo on Thursday, after Cuba's Foreign Minister Perez Roque used Vazquez's swearing-in celebration as a stage for the Cuban request. As Mercosur...

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 16 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the Congress of the United States to place a moratorium on new free trade agreements, to investigate and review current free trade agreements and policies of the United States, to investigate and review participation of the United States with international trade organizations, and to ensure that the agreements, policies, and participation are in the best interests of the citizens of Indiana and the United States. Whereas, Between January 2000 and January 2004, Indiana lost approximately 102,000 manufacturing jobs; Whereas, Manufacturing results in three to seven jobs created for each manufacturing job;...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Alan Tonelson wants to change trade policies that he believes are behind the growing trade deficit and the erosion of American manufacturing. Tonelson is a research fellow at the U.S. Business & Industry Council, which represents about 1,000 small to midsized manufacturers. He also is the author of "The Race to the Bottom: Why a Worldwide Worker Surplus and Uncontrolled Free Trade are Sinking American Living Standards" (Westview, $17.50). On Thursday, he noted the continuing growth of the trade deficit in the latest government report but said he wasn't hopeful that...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Copyright 2004 Little Rock Newspapers, Inc. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock) November 1, 2004 Monday ON THE ISSUES TRADE Congressional hopefuls share views on NAFTA ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE What changes would the Arkansas congressional candidates pose for international trade agreements? They outlined their views in answering questions in an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette questionnaire. This is the second of two reports on their responses to questions about economic matters: Has the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) been helpful or hurtful to the U.S. economy? U.S. SENATE U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D :Ten years have passed since the treaty was approved by Congress and...

Thousands will be marching in the streets of Miami, Florida, during the week of Nov. 17-21, protesting the proposed Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). They will pour into Miami from all over the country and from all over the world. The protesters will be trade unionists, anti-globalization activists, environmentalists, family farmers, religious activists, civil and human rights activists. Thousands will come to Miami to make their voices heard at a meeting of trade ministers from around the Americas. This, the eighth trade ministerial meeting to discuss the FTAA, is widely viewed as a critical step toward its creation....

My local newspaper, the Boulder [Colorado] Daily Camera, which is part of the Knight-Ridder chain, ran a series of questions and answers about GATT [the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade]. They answered the question, Who would benefit from a GATT agreement? by writing, "Consumers would be the big winners." Does that track with your understanding? If they mean rich consumers-yes, they'll gain. But much of the population will see a decline in wages, both in rich countries and poor ones. Take a look at NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement], where the analyses have already been done. The...

Kerry's message to Nevadans — essentially, "I feel your hypothetical pain" — testifies to his readiness to do whatever it takes to win. As does his vow last week that, if elected, he would renegotiate the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). He would try to force signatory nations (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and, soon, the Dominican Republic) to adopt labor and environmental standards more pleasing to him... Time was, Kerry was a free trader. Now he favors "fair trade," as defined by his labor allies. But he still is a critic of what he and likeminded...

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE RESOLUTION No. 703 Session of 2004   INTRODUCED BY CLYMER, ARGALL, ARMSTRONG, BELFANTI, CORRIGAN, CRAHALLA, DALEY, DeLUCA, DiGIROLAMO, FABRIZIO, GEORGE, GODSHALL, GOOD, HARRIS, HERSHEY, HESS, JAMES, KELLER, KOTIK, LEH, LEVDANSKY, MARSICO, McGEEHAN, McILHATTAN, MUNDY, MUSTIO, PALLONE, PISTELLA, READSHAW, ROHRER, SCAVELLO, SOLOBAY, STERN, E. Z. TAYLOR, WILT, WOJNAROSKI, FREEMAN AND BASTIAN, APRIL 15, 2004 REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, APRIL 15, 2004 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1 Urging the Congress of the United States to place a moratorium 2 on new free trade agreements, to investigate and review 3 current free trade agreements and policies of...

Unions Press for Sanctions Against China By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON - Organized labor asked the Bush administration on Tuesday to impose economic sanctions on China because of the country's alleged violations of worker rights. The request — in a petition filed with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick — represented the latest effort by American unions to highlight what they see as unfair trade practices that have led to a record $124 billion U.S. trade deficit with China last year and the loss of thousands of U.S. factory jobs. The petition, filed by the AFL-CIO on behalf of...

The jobs crisis and the GOP Posted: March 10, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 Creators Syndicate, Inc. President Bush and his advisers are puzzled and worried. Economic liftoff took place right on schedule in July when the tax cuts took effect. In the last six months of 2003, the economy blazed along on a growth path of 6 percent. But where are the jobs? Last week's jobs report, with hundreds of thousands giving up the search for work, and manufacturing jobs disappearing for the 43rd straight month, jolted the White House. What is going on? They're calling it a...

See also http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1094371/posts - why Free Trade is Good and http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1094309/posts Free Market, Outsourcing, Socialism flaws The fact that trade protection hurts the economy of the country that imposes it is one of the oldest but still most startling insights economics has to offer. The idea dates back to the origin of economic science itself. Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which gave birth to economics, already contained the argument for free trade: by specializing in production instead of producing everything, each nation would profit from free trade. In international economics it is the direct counterpart to the proposition that...

As jobs vanish, U.S. is an agricultural colony By Pat Buchanan Sen. John Edwards did not win Wisconsin, but he closed a huge gap with John Kerry with astonishing speed in the final week. The issue propelling Edwards was jobs, the lost jobs under George Bush, and Edwards' attribution of blame for the losses on NAFTA and the trade deals for which John Kerry voted in Congress. Edwards has plugged into an issue that could cost Bush his presidency. Indeed, Kerry's sudden conversion into fiery critic of trade deals for which he himself voted suggests that he senses not only...

In Defense of Globalization. Jagdish Baghwati. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004, 320 pp. Summary: A new book by an eminent economist takes on globalization's critics, disarming them with logic and killing them with compassion. Richard N. Cooper is Maurits C. Boas Professor of International Economics at Harvard University. He is co-editor of What the Future Holds: Insights From Social Science. Globalization is a buzzword that has no precise definition. It takes on many meanings, drawing both fervent support and fervent opposition. Indeed, the term is so imprecise that it is possible to be simultaneously for and against globalization. In...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Globalist water boy It is a pathetic gesture for U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo to talk about being asleep at the wheel when it comes to supporting Americas' manufacturing economy ["Manzullo focuses federal dollars on job creation," December 21]. In one breath Mr. Manzullo talks about defending manufacturing but doesn't tell you that he supported NAFTA and GATT, and in the 108th Congress he once again demonstrated the art of talking out of both sides of the mouth by voting for H.R. 2739 ( U.S.-Singapore Trade bill) and H.R. 2738 (U.S.-Chile Trade...

Trade representatives from 34 Western Hemisphere countries (all except Cuba) are now gathering in Miami to take the next step to expand NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) into the hemisphere-wide Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). They are hoping they won't be plunged into disarray by the same protestors who upset the meeting of 148 World Trade Organization nations in Cancun, Mexico last year. NAFTA, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, is not a fortuitous model for FTAA. When the first President Bush and candidate Bill Clinton were persuaded to support NAFTA, Mexican President Carlos Salinas...

The Mexican Experience and Lessons for WTO Negotiations on the Agreement on Agriculture Laura Carlsen | June 13, 2003 Americas Program, Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC) www.americaspolicy.org The following is the text of a speech delivered by the author as part of the "Hearing of Experts on WTO: Agriculture, TRIPS and Singapore Issues" before the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research, and Energy of the European Parliament, June 11, 2003. The Doha Round mandated that special attention be given to the development needs of developing countries. Therefore, a review of the Agreement on Agriculture must focus on the impact of liberalization...

Political analysts say that jobs - their loss and their recovery - will be the big issue in North Carolina elections next year in the wake of major layoffs and job cuts at such employers as Pillowtex and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'There are three major issues in North Carolina today, and that is jobs, jobs and jobs,' said John Davis, the executive director of N.C. FREE, a business group in Raleigh that tracks state-election trends.A recent exchange of letters between Bill Cobey, a Republican candidate for governor, and aides to Democratic Gov. Mike Easley gives a taste of the rhetoric...

<p>The agreement that the United States and Europe have struck on farm subsidies and tariffs is something like a Rorschach test &#8212; it could be interpreted any number of ways. Given the absence of any numbers in the deal and few details, it has not been greeted with much enthusiasm. But there are some elements of the deal that are positive, and U.S. farmers have given it tepid endorsement. Given its brevity, it leaves the United States and its pro-reform allies plenty of room to push for measurable progress at the next global trade round in Cancun, Mexico in September.</p>

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.The politically savvier critics of U.S. globalization policy are rapidly reaching an important conclusion: Without major help from American agriculture, it´s going to be painfully difficult to force major change in U.S. trade policy even in today´s weak economy. Fortunately, a recent trip to America´s agricultural heartland showed me that prospects are improving for closer cooperation between agriculture and the nation´s hard-hit domestic manufacturers. Since the early 1990s, dissident ag groups have done yeoman´s work resisting NAFTA-style trade policies. But most represented smallish family farm organizations or individual farming or ranching interests...

There has been a few threads on here where Free Trader enthusiasts have defended their view, and have been responded to by those who feel that Free Trade is not helping the American Economy, in fact, is part of the reason we are NOT going to see a great recovery any time soon. I am one of the latter. The following is a cut and paste job, taken from my own comments on these threads, which I feel tell my side of the story. Some of the points are repeatd, 3 and 4 times. That is because I feel they...

...Hundreds of thousands of American IT workers have lost their jobs in the past several years to foreign replacements through the L-1 visa loophole, or the similar H-1B visa program. American software engineers, computer designers, technicians, electrical engineers, and other hi-tech employees are feeling the downside of globalization. These professionals who invested in education and thought they had secure futures in the tech and service industries have had a rude awakening. They have been getting pink slips and joining the unemployment lines, along with auto workers, steel workers, assembly-line workers, loggers, and other low-tech workers. They are being replaced by...

Nation Busting The trouble with globalismBy Robert Locke Globalism is a central issue of our time, but its definition has become slippery. It is confused with globalization, an error that globalists deliberately encourage. The two are fundamentally different: globalization is an historical process, a fact of how things are, but globalism is an ideology, a set of opinions about how things ought to be. Globalism is the ideology that advocates the liquidation of nations. Its opposite is nationalism. Globalization, on the other hand, is not an ideology at all. Ultimately, it is just the growth of communications and trade, and...

The US government is expected to announce bold new proposals to expand free trade later on Tuesday. The plan would lead to the elimination of all tariffs on industrial and consumer goods by 2015 in an attempt to jump-start global trade talks. "A world of no trade and tariff barriers is the north star," Paul O'Neill, the US Treasury Secretary told business leaders in the UK, ahead of the official announcement. Mr O'Neill said that world economic output would increase by $2 trillion (£1,3,00bn) if all trade barriers were removed. "There's a very important reason to do it, the whole...