Free Republic

On October 14, Lord Christopher Monckton, a noted climate change expert, gave a presentation at Bethel College in St. Paul, MN in which he issued a dire warning regarding the United Nations Climate Change Treaty which is scheduled to be signed in Copenhagen in December 2009. .. Video 4:11 min

Jerome Corsi and Sean Hannity discuss how American sovereignty is being sold out. Who the main players are and their agenda to Globalization. Corsi calls Obama Post- America. Describing him as an Internationalist. Obama is going along with the agenda giving away sovereighnty in recent G20 and IMF agreements.

Willard PARIS (Reuters) - Persuading Europe, the United States and China to accept International Monetary Fund advice on economic polices may be difficult, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Monday. The United States wants a discussion of a broad framework to solve the world's economic imbalances at a summit of G20 leaders in Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday. The IMF would be charged with sketching out a plan and then checking whether each country was making progress. But in the past many countries have ignored advice dished out in regular reviews by the IMF. G7 sources told Reuters...

BRUSSELS -- This weekend's U.S.-China trade skirmish is just the tip of a coming protectionist iceberg, according to a report released Monday by Global Trade Alert, a team of trade analysts backed by independent think tanks, the World Bank and the U.K. government. A report by the World Trade Organization, backed by its 153 members and also released Monday, found "slippage" in promises to abstain from protectionism, but drew less dramatic conclusions. (Read the report.) Governments have planned 130 protectionist measures that have yet to be implemented, according to the GTA's research. These include state aid funds, higher tariffs, immigration...

BEIJING (AP) -- Beijing filed a World Trade Organization complaint Monday over new U.S. tariffs on Chinese tires, stepping up pressure on Washington in the latest in a series of trade disputes. The conflict is a potential irritant as Washington and Beijing prepare for a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24-25 to discuss efforts to end the worst global downturn since the 1930s. The Chinese complaint to the WTO in Geneva triggers a 60-day WTO process in which the two sides are to try to resolve the dispute through negotiations. If that fails,...

BRUSSELS (AFP) – The World Trade Organisation has judged European subsidies paid to Airbus illegal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing a source "familiar with the matter". But European sources who declined to be named told AFP that the interim ruling released by the WTO indicated that the US complaint was only partially upheld. The Journal reported from Brussels that the WTO concluded that every launch-aid package given to Airbus for the development of its A380 double-decker long-range airliner was an illegal subsidy. The conclusion was contained in a report of around 1,000 pages, with hard copies only...

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization is due on August 31 to adopt a ruling by its top court condemning U.S. anti-dumping measures, allowing Japan to seek retaliation against Washington, a WTO agenda showed on Friday. The move is one of several under which various U.S. trade policies are coming under pressure at the end of the month. The WTO's Appellate Body rejected a U.S. appeal on Tuesday and upheld earlier rulings in favor of Japan condemning zeroing, a controversial U.S. method of calculating duties on imports sold for less than they cost at home. Under WTO rules an...

"Buy America. Buy Canada. Buy Chile. Buy China. But that's the road to the problem that exacerbated the downturn in the 1930s and led to the Great Depression", said World Bank Chief Zoellick. Mexico has already imposed $2.4 billion in tariffs on US imports in retaliation to an end to allow Mexican trucks on US highways forcing them to unload their goods at the border to US truckers.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The global economic downturn is far from over, and few countries have dismantled the dangerous protectionist barriers they imposed in response to it, World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy said on Monday. "I would caution against excessive optimism," he said. "Although financial markets are showing signs of stabilizing, the crisis is far from over, in particular in many developing countries that are only now starting to feel its full force on their trade and economic growth."

Regardless of the scientific merit behind doomsday predictions of global warming, President Obama and Congress seem intent on instituting a U.S. policy regime to address the specter of climate change.The debate on the most effective way to "green" America--cap-and-trade, carbon taxes, tough energy standards and regulations, some hybrid approach, or sticking to open markets--will be a heated one. With affordable green technologies still in development, policymakers need to recognize that the economic cost of limiting U.S. production of greenhouse gases on U.S. consumers and companies will be high--high enough to question whether the costs are worth the equally uncertain...

Late on Friday The Washington Times' Christian Bourge obtained a copy of Presidential Determination 2009-19, latest in a series of pro forma memos to the Secretary of State entitled "Suspension of Limitations Under the Jerusalem Embassy Act."

Roquefort prices won't triple for Americans, and Europeans can block hormone-treated US beef. Boston; and Milan, Italy - Penny-pinching foodies can relax a bit. A trade war that pitted hormone-treated beef from the United States against gourmet food items from the European Union (EU) appears to have been averted. In the US, this means wedges of Roquefort cheese won't be tripling in price. Proposed punitive duties against 34 other "luxury" food products from the EU – from Irish oatmeal to Italian mineral water – also will not take effect. In Europe, the tentative trade dispute settlement means consumers won't have...

Trade Versus Security by: Alanna Hultz, April 08, 2009 Measures to ensure national security and consumer safety by regulating imports often come at the cost of reduced trade. David Hummels of Purdue University said at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) recently that “economists believe free trade is welfare maximizing and mutually beneficial for both sides.” He also said that free trade could produce economic gains and national security losses. He then went on to describe food security and discussed problems with the supply chain within China. China has had contaminated baby food, toys and pet food and Hummels believes the...

Geithner Is Overreaching on Regulatory Power We don't need more politics in our economics. The proposal is being offered as a clever political solution to the turf war that might have erupted if the Treasury or FDIC alone were given this quasi-nationalization authority, with no input from the Fed. But the real issue is whether this expansion of regulators' powers is wise.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A U.S. crackdown on European online gambling breaches World Trade Organization rules and would justify action at the World Trade Organization, the European Commission said on Thursday. The European Union executive, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation bloc, said its draft report found that such U.S. laws hampered trade and thus were inconsistent with WTO rules but stressed it would seek a negotiated solution. "It is for the U.S. to decide how best to regulate Internet gambling in its market, but this must be done in a way that fully respects WTO obligations," EU Trade Commissioner...

DUBLIN, Ireland – A security alert has been issued today in the Northern Ireland town of Ballykinler, the site of a British Army base.

EU slaps duties on U.S. biodiesel imports EU panel approves duties on U.S. biodiesel European Union trade panel approved on Tuesday temporary anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on imports of biodiesel from the United States, sources with knowledge of the decision said. "It went through with no problem," one source told Reuters on condition of anonymity after a meeting of the EU's anti-dumping committee of 27 national trade diplomats. From March 13, U.S. firms exporting biodiesel into the EU will have to pay additional tariffs for an initial six months, ranging from 26 euros ($32.88) to 41 euros per 100 kg....

ROME, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The European Union would consider appealing to the World Trade Organisation if U.S. aid for the American auto industry made conditions unfair for European manufacturers, the EU's transport chief said. "Europe is evaluating -- if that help should impinge on the competitiveness of our producers -- appealing to the WTO," European Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said in an interview with Italian paper La Stampa published on Thursday. The Italian commissioner said that, with countries around the world providing incentives for their industries to protect national production and jobs, certain countries giving their own manufacturers an...

Canada keeps WTO option open on U.S. meat rules (Reuters) - Canada stands ready to revive a trade complaint against the United States should Washington reinstate country-of-origin meat labeling rules that Ottawa considers protectionist, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said on Tuesday. "Should the Obama administration continue on with protectionism and country-of-origin labeling, we will then reignite our WTO (World Trade Organization) challenge," Ritz told reporters on a conference call. Canada agreed to shelve its WTO complaint last month after the government of George W. Bush revised U.S. rules to allow greater flexibility on labeling of meat sold in U.S. grocery...

Vicious. Extremely vicious. Trade Policy is turned upside down today as it was at the Founding of the American Republic. In his second inagural address, President Thomas Jefferson stated that no American, be he farmer, labor, or mechanic had ever seen a tax gatherer in these United States. How then did government get it's revenue? Through taxes on foreign imports, the only legitimate means of government revenue under the US Constitution. Ambassador Alan Keyes, former two time GOP Presidential Candidate explained this beautifully. He explained that we must not accept this vicious "free trade" as it is a misnomer. It...

Congress Approves Protectionist Measure That Could Spark Trade War Major partners, including the European Union and Canada, say the legislation favoring U.S. steel, iron and manufactured goods for government projects could undermine pledges by the leaders of major economies not to resort to protectionism during the world economic downturn. Congress Passes $787B Stimulus Bill,

Slow Boat to China by: Alanna Hultz, February 03, 2009 The relationship between the United States and China may be the most important bilateral relationship in the world. “The United States has a record 224 billion dollar trade deficit with China, the largest with any country and China is the largest holder of [the] U.S. treasury [notes].” Since this relationship is so important, U.S. policymakers should impose positive change in China’s human rights practices. Major human rights that are abused in China include press freedom, with tight control of media content and the flow of information. For example, parts of...

Top US Senate Republican slams 'buy American' idea The senior Republican in the U.S. Senate added his voice Friday to those of several foreign leaders in denouncing "buy American" provisions of economic stimulus legislation making its way through the Senate. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, predicted in comments to reporters that including the provision would cause trade wars. "I don't think we ought to use a measure that is supposed to be timely, temporary and targeted to set off trade wars," McConnell said. "The entire world is experiencing a downturn in the economy," he said. "I think it's...

Government Blocks Release of Documents on Secret IP Enforcement Treaty Despite Obama's Order for Openness, Americans Still Kept in the Dark About ACTA San Francisco, CA - infoZine - The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is withholding hundreds of documents about a secret intellectual property enforcement treaty currently under negotiation between the U.S. and more than a dozen other countries. In a pending federal lawsuit, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public Knowledge are demanding that background documents on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). But the USTR has...

'Buy American' - Sparks Fly A stimulus provision that bans the purchase of foreign construction materials for public works projects gets jeers from economists and European trade interests. A debate is brewing at home and abroad over an economic stimulus measure that would require materials used in the program's infrastructure projects to be purchased from American companies. In the $819 billion House bill passed Wednesday, the so-called "Buy American" provision would, with some notable exceptions, ensure that only U.S.-produced iron and steel be used for construction. It expands on a 76-year-old federal law. The Senate, which is likely to take...

Gore Calls On Lawmakers To Curb Carbon Emissions, Support Fiscal Stimulus 1/28/2009 1:03 PM ET Gore Calls On Lawmakers To Curb Carbon Emissions, Support Fiscal Stimulus (RTTNews) - Always willing to speak up on the issue of global warming, Nobel Prize winner Al Gore testified before former Senate colleagues Wednesday, urging action on carbon emissions. The former Vice President told lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that actions must be taken "this year" to cut down on carbon emissions. Gore expressed his concern that efforts to fight global warming could take a backseat in light of the severe recession...

A few months ago, Robert Cassidy found himself pondering whether trade actually benefited the American economy. "I couldn't prove it," he says. "Did it benefit U.S. multinational corporations? Yes. But I cannot prove that it benefits the economy." Such doubts would hardly be news if they came from an established critic of free trade. But Robert Cassidy was the chief U.S. negotiator on China's 1999 market access agreement with the United States -- the document that was the basis for Congress's extension of permanent normalized trade relations to China, which in turn enabled China to join the World Trade Organization....

President Obama's plan to close Guantánamo Bay within a year appeared to be unravelling yesterday with the emergence of former inmates on terrorist websites, fierce opposition in the US and a lukewarm response to taking detainees from the European Union. After signing an executive order last week to close the US military prison, Mr Obama has been confronted with myriad obstacles that are making his ambitious pledge look unrealistic. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, ruled out the prospect of Britain taking any more inmates, claiming that it had already made a significant contribution. (snip) Javier Solana, the EU's foreign and...

HOME-SCHOOLING: U.N. treaty might weaken families Michael Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association (Courtesy of hslda.org) One of the issues American families could face this year is the ramifications from a treaty called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). You may ask, "How could a treaty directly affect internal decision-making by American families?" We generally think of treaties as agreements affecting international relations between countries. The U.N., however, has initiated treaties that not only affect international relations, but also the domestic relations of member nations as well. These treaties, sometimes called "conventions,"...

U.S. debt is losing its appeal in China HONG KONG: China has bought more than $1 trillion in American debt, but as the global downturn has intensified, Beijing is starting to keep more of its money at home - a shift that could pose some challenges to the U.S. government in the near future but eventually may even produce salutary effects on the world economy. At first glance, the declining Chinese appetite for U.S. debt - apparent in a series of hints from Chinese policy makers over the past two weeks, with official statistics due for release in the next...

U.S. companies face $409 billion pension deficit: study NEW YORK (Reuters) - Volatile markets have saddled U.S. companies with a $409 billion deficit on pension plans, reversing a $60 billion surplus a year earlier, and will cut into earnings in 2009, consulting firm Mercer said. As of December 31, pension plans among members of the Standard & Poor's 1500 had $1.21 trillion of assets and $1.62 trillion of liabilities, Mercer said in a report released on Wednesday. At the end of 2007, pension plan assets totaled $1.66 trillion and liabilities totaled about $1.6 trillion, Mercer said. The S&P 1500 is...

<p>Visiting Fellow John Yoo The Constitution's Treaty Clause has long been seen, rightly, as a bulwark against presidential inclinations to lock the United States into unwise foreign commitments. The clause will likely be tested by Barack Obama's administration, as the new president and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton, led by the legal academics in whose circles they have long traveled, contemplate binding down American power and interests in a dense web of treaties and international bureaucracies.</p>

China, India, Russia factories slash output, jobs An employee of a luxury brand shop puts up a poster at a shopping district in Tokyo. Factories in China, India and Russia slashed output and jobs at a record pace last month in another sign the world's largest emerging markets were wilting under the recession that has gripped most industrialised nations. Factory activity surveys in the US and Europe are expected to show steeper contractions in December, as demand collapses at home and crushes growth in many of the developing nations that rely on Western consumption. Economists and policymakers had seen China,...

Manufacturing slows to lowest level since 1948, the ISM Survey showed By (AXcess News) Houston - The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) December Survey revealed that the manufacturing sector continued to show no sign of growth for the fifth consecutive month while the overall U.S. economy shrank for the third month in a row. ISM chairman of the Committee Survey Norbert J. Ore said manufacturers across the entire spectrum of companies saw a "significant decline" in activity during the month of December. "The decline covers the full breadth of manufacturing industries, as none of the industries in the sector report...

GENEVA (AP) — The World Trade Organization has rejected an appeal by China against a ruling that favored the United States in a dispute over car parts, the European Union and Canada. The WTO appeals panel recommended in a ruling released Monday that China be asked to bring its import tariffs for foreign auto parts into compliance with international trade rules. U.S. and European trade officials welcomed the decision. "Especially in light of the current problems faced by the U.S. auto industry, I expect China to comply promptly with its WTO obligations by removing an unlawful and unfair trade barrier...

BUENOS AIRES, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Argentine automakers will sell basic models at cost through state-subsidized loans in a plan to protect jobs in Latin America's third-biggest economy from the global economic slowdown, government officials said on Saturday.

I would be remiss if I didn't point you to Secretary General Ban Ki Moon's op-ed in today's Chronicle, making an economic case for U.S. investment in green jobs. Here it is, in full: Amid the pressures of the global financial crisis, some ask how we can afford to tackle climate change. The better question is: Can we afford not to? Put aside the familiar arguments - that the science is clear, that climate change represents an indisputable existential threat to the planet, and that every day we do not act the problem grows worse. Instead, let us make the...

President Bush is unhappy the conversation between him and President-elect Barack Obama has been cast as a trade-off between Bush signing a second stimulus package in exchange for congressional passage of the Colombia Free Trade Deal, administration officials told FOX News on Tuesday.

U.S. airlines cry foul over new EU rule Regulation that places tough pollution standards on air carriers may spur legal action against the European Union. By Shelley Emling Cox International Correspondent Saturday, November 08, 2008 London —- A new European Union rule imposing tougher pollution limits on U.S. airlines violates international law and will likely result in a legal challenge, U.S. government officials say. All airlines flying in or out of the EU will have to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, a gas considered a major contributor to global warming, by 3 percent in 2012 and by 5 percent starting...

The U.N.: Even More Expensive Than It Looks How much does the United Nations cost? Rich countries, led by the United States, take note: you already pay about three times as much for the U.N. as appears on your own books — about $17.2 billion in 2006, according to figures newly pulled together in a U.N. report. And that number includes a whopping $800 million surplus for the sprawling U.N. system. What the U.N. did with the extra cash isn't covered in the document that for the first time reveals the full extent of U.N. anti-poverty contributions and spending across...

The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, has called on European leaders to create a new world order that minimises the role of the US. Confident that a spat with Europe prompted by Russia's invasion of Georgia in August was over, Mr Medvedev arrived in the French spa town of Evian determined to woo his fellow leaders into creating an anti-US front. Gone was the kind of war time rhetoric that saw Mr Medvedev lash out at the West and characterise his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili as a "lunatic". Instead Mr Medvedev spoke of a Russia that was "absolutely not interested in...

US trade officials are close to filing a case against China at the World Trade Organisation challenging export restrictions on raw materials used in steel-making and other industries. The US has been working on the case intensely for the past few months, and could move ahead with a request for consultations – the first step in the WTO dispute settlement process – within weeks, according to people close to the discussions. The European Union has already opened three investigations into allegations of dumping by Chinese steel producers. A WTO fight over China’s treatment of raw materials would shake up the...

Russia decided Monday to break off some trade agreements reached during negotiations to join the World Trade Organisation, as relations between Moscow and the West grew increasingly tense. The move to withdraw from some of the accords reached over years of arduous talks came at a meeting of an inner circle of cabinet ministers chaired by powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. It confirmed Russia's disillusionment with the complex negotiations needed to enter the 153-nation trade body. "Russia intends to inform various WTO partners of its withdrawal from accords that contradict its interests," First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told Putin...

The Not-So-Omnipotent China by: Daniel Smith, August 07, 2008 As the world’s attention and conspiracy theorists turn to Beijing this August, Western nations should not forget China’s role in “The Collapse of the [World Trade Organization (WTO)] Doha Round Trade Talks” in Geneva on July 29. The facts of the failed negotiations reveal a more impotent China than Americans would expect. Frank Vargo, chief spokesman on trade issues for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), viewed the collapse of the seven-year Doha Rounds as a “watershed.” He was one of several distinguished panelists who addressed a crowd at the American...

The Doha round of world trade talks has collapsed in what one former trade chief called the biggest blow to globalisation since the end of the Cold War. An emergency World Trade Organisation summit aimed at resuscitating the seven-year long talks broke down in acrimony last night. Negotiators warned that there was now little or no chance of salvaging the talks, which promised to bring down trade tariffs, pull millions out of poverty and keep food and goods prices under control. It is the first time a major set of world trade talks has collapsed entirely, and insiders warned that...

The Doha Round of multilateral trade talks has already died a thousand deaths. But, apart from the bureaucracies in Geneva, Brussels and Washington, few are grieving.That's because the world economy is moving forward without a World Trade Organization treaty. While Doha negotiations have sputtered on for seven years, annual global trade flows have increased 70 percent to US$14 trillion, real annual foreign direct investment is up 25 percent to US$1.5 trillion and the global economy has expanded by 30 percent to US$54.4 trillion, my research into official figures reveals. This compares with estimated benefits from full Doha Round success of...

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States, responding to a key demand of developing countries, said on Saturday it would discuss giving more temporary access to foreign professionals, injecting renewed optimism into world trade talks. The U.S. offer -- its second this week in make-or-break talks to secure a breakthrough in long-running trade negotiations -- had ministers and businessmen talking optimistically about improved prospects for a deal. "When it comes to temporary entry of business professionals we signaled that we are ready to have that conversation in the context of the Doha round," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab told reporters....

GENEVA (AFP) - Crucial WTO talks hung in the balance Thursday, with top negotiators stressing that progress was needed in the next 24 hours to avert another ignominious collapse. < > The WTO has convened a meeting here of 35 leading trade negotiators with the aim of mapping out a deal to conclude the long-delayed Doha Round of global trade talks. The Doha Round began seven years ago with the aim of helping poor countries enjoy the fruits of freer global trade, but the process has been delayed by disputes between the rich developed world and poorer developing nations. <...

In a potentially stunning move that reflects the growing challenge Europe’s basketball leagues pose to the NBA, Atlanta Hawks free-agent forward Josh Childress is strongly considering a three-year, $20 million offer from Greek powerhouse Olympiakos, several league sources said Sunday night. ...Childress, 25, is so flustered with the Hawks’ refusal to make a sign-and-trade deal to another team, one source familiar with his thinking believes there’s “better than a 50-50 chance” he’ll sign with Olympiakos. The team also will cover the Greek taxes for Childress, making it even more lucrative. ... Childress is a restricted free agent, but the Hawks...

GENEVA (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy's pointed criticism of the Doha free trade round were contradictory and did poor-country farmers a disservice, trade experts said on Monday. Sarkozy, a staunch defender of European Union farm subsidies that would be cut under a new World Trade Organisation (WTO) accord, called the deal being negotiated in Geneva "really counterproductive" in light of the world's food security crisis. "One child dies every 30 seconds because they are hungry, and we should go and negotiate within the WTO framework a 20 percent cut in European agricultural production?," he asked in remarks directed at...