The Central America Free Trade Agreement: Three Reasons for Congress to Vote No. Congress needs to understand the implications of trade agreements for our trading partners in the developing world. The Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is the first such agreement the United States has negotiated with less-developed countries, including some of the poorest in the hemisphere. These countries depend heavily on agriculture for the livelihood of significant portions of their populations, are ravaged by curable diseases due to poverty and inadequate health-care coverage, are sorely lacking in public infrastructure and in several cases are highly indebted. Yet CAFTA does not take as a starting point the disparities in development and resources between the US and the region; instead, it is modeled on the US bilateral free trade agreements with Chile and Singapore and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Based on our knowledge of NAFTA and the US agreements with Chile and Singapore, as well as news reports, USTR briefings and information from our partners in the region, Oxfam believes the double standards and rigged rules of US trade policy set forth in CAFTA will be a setback for development and poverty reduction in Central America.

By Oxfam USA, US.

International Trade Policy Resource.

Investing in Destruction: Glamis Gold. demonstrates how investment rules can undermine environmental protections. A new claim under the investment rules in Chapter 11 of NAFTA has been initiated by Glamis Gold, a Canadian mining company that has demanded $50 million in compensation from the US because of California restrictions on open-pit gold mining. The initiation of the claim reinforces the threats to environmental laws from investment rules, and raises important new issues about risks to indigenous communities. By Oxfam USA and Friends of the Earth.

By Oxfam USA, Friends of the Earth, US.

International Trade Policy Resource.

World Trade Organisation: Doha. Where does the World Trade Organization stand, one year into the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations? The new round, launched in Qatar in November 2001, will include negotiations on reducing barriers to trade in industrial goods, farm products, and services and taking the WTO into new territory to cover investment-, competition-, and environment-related trade policies. The new round presents great opportunities, but it also creates new risks for world trade. "Whither the WTO? A Progress Report on the Doha Round" by Razeen Sally is published by the Cato Institute.

By Cato Institute, US.

International Trade Policy Resource.

Anti-Dumping Laws. The U.S. antidumping law enjoys broad political support in part because so few people understand how the law actually works. Its rhetoric of ?fairness? and ?level playing fields? sounds appealing, and its convoluted technical complexities prevent all but a few insiders and experts from understanding the reality that underlies that rhetoric. In this study Brink Lindsey and Dan Ikenson seek to penetrate the fog of complexity that shields the antidumping law from the scrutiny it deserves. They identify the many methodological quirks and biases that allow normal, healthy competition to be stigmatized as ?unfair? and punished with often cripplingly high antidumping duties. The conclusion they draw is that the antidumping law, as it currently stands, has nothing to do with maintaining a ?level playing field.? Instead, antidumping?s primary function is to provide an elaborate excuse for old-fashioned protectionism. "Antidumping 101: The Devilish Details of "Unfair Trade" Law" is published by the Cato Institute.

By Cato Institute, US.

International Trade Policy Resource.