Private Equity Gone Public

Having long sailed beneath the regulatory radar, private equity firms all of a sudden find themselves the target of congressional attention. The June 21 initial public offering (NYT) of the buyout behemoth Blackstone Group drew headlines, not least for the massive payouts the IPO brought the company’s cofounders Stephen Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson.

By CFR, USA.

International Trade Policy Resource.

A Raw Deal for Rice Under DR-CAFTA. The Free Trade Agreement between the United States and the Central American countries together with the Dominican Republic (DR-CAFTA) threatens the livelihoods of thousands of rice farmers in Central America. It opens the door to massive subsidized US rice exports at prices below the cost of production. If the Agreement is ratified and implemented, a flood of subsidized rice will displace thousands of Central American producers from the market. Only a few export and import companies will reap benefits. The dependence on food imports that DR-CAFTA will provoke may also worsen current levels of food insecurity for Central American countries. Oxfam fears that the implementation of DR-CAFTA will have a negative impact on poverty reduction in the Central American region.

By Oxfam USA, US.

International Trade Policy Resource.

Small Scale Gold Mining in Cambodia. Oxfam America has published Cambodia's first ever report on small-scale gold mining in Cambodia. The report was written by Mr. Sieng Sotham, the Director of the Department of Geology, General Department of Mineral Resources, Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy. This report examines four of the nineteen known gold deposits. Using these four case studies the report illustrates the issues involving the use of toxic chemicals, the socio-economic factors and the lack of effective legislation.

By Oxfam USA, US.

International Trade Policy Resource.

Dumping: the Beginning of the End? Implications of the Ruling in the Brazil/US Cotton Dispute. Despite their WTO commitments to reduce trade-distorting subsidies, the European Union and the United States have used loopholes and creative accounting to continue dumping products on world markets. In the case of US cotton subsidies, the dispute settlement body of the WTO concluded that such practices hurt developing countries and are in violation of WTO rules. This landmark case sends hope to millions of impoverished cotton farmers in West Africa. And it might be the beginning of the end for US and EU dumping.

By Oxfam USA, US.

International Trade Policy Resource.

Undermining Access to Medicines: Comparison of Five US FTAs. The US government is using bilateral and regional free-trade agreements (FTAs) to impose unnecessarily stringent intellectual property standards on developing countries that go beyond World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. These new higher standards favor the short-term commercial interests of US pharmaceutical companies, at the expense of public health in developing countries. Oxfam has analyzed a selection of key US FTAs: The provisions in these agreements go far beyond the obligations required by the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The new "TRIPS-plus" obligations in the FTAs close off the public health safeguards available to WTO members under TRIPs and will restrict access to affordable medicines in developing countries.

By Oxfam USA, US.

International Trade Policy Resource.

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.

Measuring Globalization. One aspect frequently missed in the debates about globalization is its measurement: How extensive is globalization? Which countries are the most globalized? The least? And why? Those rare instances in which anyone attempts to gauge globalization typically rely on data concerning international trade and investment flows, to the exclusion of other aspects of global integration. To fill this gap, Foreign Policy has created an index that employs indicators spanning information technology, finance, trade, politics, travel, and personal communication to evaluate levels of global integration in dozens of advanced economies and key emerging markets worldwide. It finds Ireland to be the most globalized nation state.

By Foreign Policy, US.

International Trade Policy Resource.