The Custom-House

One more time...

Another Doha "do or die" meeting of WTO member trade ministers next week (Are Doha doldrums doomed to deepen? , David Loyn, BBC News, June 19).  This may really be it, one way or the other.

Zoellick profile

Robert Zoellick has resigned as Deputy Secretary of State to take the "Vice President - International" position with Goldman Sachs: Zoellick takes senior post at Goldman (Edward Alden, Financial Times, June 19)

Zoellick, of course, was the first of Bush's three USTRs.  Tom Barry profiled Zoellick for the CounterPunch newsletter when Zoellick moved from USTR to Deputy at State: Robert Zoellick: a Bush Family Man .  My own political philosophy is way different from Barry's, but the profile is interesting.  Here's a selection from the discussion of Zoellick as USTR:

Bush weighs in on Doha Round

Last Thursday, President Bush weighed in on the importance of moving the Doha Round negotiations along - and appeared to indicate a willingness to make compromises if they were needed for a significant agreement.

Are there large potential benefits from a U.S.-S. Korea FTA?

What's potentially at stake in the U.S. - Korea FTA negotiations?  Economically, a lot for Korea, somewhat less for the U.S.

Chinese law and East Asian logistics

Here are two blogs for economists with an interest in Asia:

A primer on FTAs

Robert McMahon provides a primer on free trade agreements (FTAs) in this Council of Foreign Relations "Daily Analysis": Trading Places (June 13).  Numerous links.

Try the link that takes you to the transcript of the day in March 2005 when Paul Blustein moderated a Council discussion between Columbia trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati and then WTO Director-General candidate Pascal Lamy. 

This is a little dated now; we know how the Hong Kong WTO ministerial meetings came out, for example.  But its still worth while, and given that neither Lamy or Bhagwati could be dull if they tried, it has good entertainment value:

CFR Senior Fellow Jagdish Bhagwati, one of the most prominent critics of such deals [FTA deals - Ben], told a Council meeting last year that Washington was taking a heavy-handed approach to such negotiations. "You get a little country by itself in a bilateral negotiation, then you can ram anything down its throat," he said. "Those guys will sell both their grandmothers to be able to sign on to such an agreement."

Experts Pessimistic About Doha Round

Trade professionals aren't optimistic about the success of the Doha Round.

Andrew Stoler of the Institute for International Business, Economics & Law at the University of Adelaide surveyed 100 trade professionals "negotiators, policy-makers and experts from both developed and developing countries located in Geneva and key capital cities around the world..." in late May and early June:

U.S.-So. Korea FTA negotiations underway

The U.S. and South Korea held the first negotiating session on the proposed free trade agreement last week.  The staff at the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest report:

What should you look for in a USTR?

In March 2005, Lionel Barber, the U.S. managing editor for the Financial Times, interviewed former United States Trade Representatives (USTRs) Carla A. Hills and Charlene Barshefsky, before a Council of Foreign Relations audience:  U.S. Priorities in Trade  (2005 Corporate Conference, March 10, 2005)

What, he wanted to know, should you look for when you're choosing a USTR:

World Market for Counterfeit Goods

This week's Progressive Policy Institute "Trade Fact of the Week" is on world trade in counterfeit goods:

...The International Chamber of Commerce in Geneva believes worldwide sales of counterfeit goods is $650 billion a year, including local sales of counterfeit goods as well as exports. Assuming this figure is roughly accurate, the counterfeit business is equal to nearly half of America's $1.3 trillion in goods and services exports; all of the $600 billion in Latin America or Japanese exports; or half the global energy trade.

Link: Worldwide Market for Counterfeit Goods: $650 billion.  Entertaining, educational, and lots of links.