Free Trade Under Fire as Protectionism Surges

Breakdown halts seven years of progress to hammer out deal

(NEWSER) - World Trade Organization talks to forge a new global trade pact collapsed yesterday after seven years of negotiations. An EU spokesman called the breakdown a "massive blow to the confidence in the global economy." The talks fell apart as China and India demanded the authortity to impose "safeguard" tariffs if imports of key crops exceeded set levels, reports the Wall Street Journal. More»

Copenhagen summit yields basic deal to fight climate change

(NEWSER) - President Obama and the leaders of China, India, and South Africa reached a "meaningful agreement" tonight in Copenhagen on steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the White House announced. The deal requires the nations of the world to list their actions to curb emissions and sets up a framework for rich countries to pay poor nations in order to cope with the effects of climate change. The agreement is meant to limit global warming to 2° Celsius. More»

(AP) - Mexico said yesterday it will increase tariffs on about 90 US products in retaliation for last week's decision to end a pilot program that allowed some Mexican trucks to transport goods in the United States. The measure will affect about $2.4 billion in trade involving goods from 40 states. Mexico's economic secretary said the tariffs were specifically chosen to hurt a large number of states on significant trade goods. More»

Warns change will be irreversible if something isn't done now

(NEWSER) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair will seek to privately broker a new international agreement to cut carbon emissions by 50% before 2050 that would include China, India and the US, reports the Guardian. Blair has been working on the project with climate change experts since he left office last summer. He's convinced global warming is the biggest threat the world faces and that action must be taken in the next two years or it will be too late to reverse the problem. More»