BEACON

At the behest of Google, the Obama administration is reviewing the options of complaining to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the Chinese censorship of Google Inc., the search engine powerhouse and other affected companies. The alleged Chinese action is believed to have infringed upon the WTO laws which provided a level playing field for [...]

Protectionism versus safety took the centre stage of debate between the Rudd administration and the domestic beef industry along with the main opposition while the Australian government declared the removal of ban on beef importation on Monday. Prior to the announcement, the Coalition senators and about 1000 beef producers gathered in Armidale to protest against [...]

A meeting between two top government representatives from the US and Mexico suggests the Obama administration’s revocation of the pilot program will be lifted soon to end the one year old trade spat. The program allowed the movement of some Mexican long-haul rigs or trucks through the US roads.
The US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and [...]

According to RIA Novosti, the President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev has approved a plan to boost domestic food production and reduce the country’s dependence on imports. Russia plans to enhance its food production through a new food policy which is expected to produce up to 95 percent of domestic grain needs followed by 80 percent [...]

An official of the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the largest farm organization in the US said delays by Obama administration to strike trade deals with potential countries and blocs were causing distress to the farming community of the country. This indictment came just ahead of AFBF’s 91st annual meeting scheduled to be held in [...]

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that 91 agricultural trade promotion projects had been allocated $8.2m for the fiscal 2009 to promote overseas market access for the US food and agricultural products. The money was provided by the Central Fund of the USDA’s Emerging Markets Program (EMP), the funding which is set at [...]

The US Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela’s recent visit to Argentina did not pan out as expected after he quoted the US businessmen had raised investment doubts over legal insecurity in Argentina – a stark contrast to his optimism during a 1996 visit. On account of this, the Argentine foreign ministry [...]

Asian leaders have once again brought up the idea of common currency at the 4th East Asia Summit (EAS) which opened on Sunday, where ASEAN members along with others including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand met to discuss about regional cooperation particularly on trade and climate. Even while it was conceived [...]

FICCI president Harsh Pati Singhania while concluding his week-long trip to the US stated that instead of waiting for long, it was in the interest of both the countries to move forward with an Indo-US FTA excluding agriculture. FICCI, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry represents over 1500 corporates and over 500 [...]

Ethiopian Airlines’ (EA) whopping profit of about $55.67mn for the first nine months of 2007-08 has enabled them to expand their fleet to accommodate more US tourists’ interest in visiting Ethiopia. Girma Wake, CEO of EA averred that four additional airliners from Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop had been ordered to strengthen its fleet.
In November 2008, [...]