Planet Watch

Obama and the KXL-TPP contradiction

Obama nixed the Keystone XL pipeline a day after announcing he will sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership—which includes mechanisms for challenging the KXL cancellation.

Mexico

Mexico: wages stay down in stalled economy

Two decades after NAFTA went into effect, Mexico has one of the worst-performing economies in the region. A warning for other countries on "free trade" deals?

Mexico

Subcommander Marcos ‘ceases to exist’

A new communique from the Zapatistas' Subcommander Marcos states that he is stepping down as the public voice of the indigenous rebel army in Mexico's Chiapas state.

Mexico

Anti-mining protests in Mexico, Canada

The July 22 Global Day of Action Against Open-Pit Mining, most widely observed in the Andean nations, also saw coordinated protests in NAFTA partners Mexico and Canada. 

Leak at tar sands plant fouls Athabasca River

Tainted water poured for hours into Canada's Athabasca River before a broken pipe was sealed at one of the Suncor tar-sands plants that it is to supply the Keystone XL pipeline.

Planet Watch

Quebec fracking ban challenged under NAFTA

Energy firm Lone Pine Resources is challenging Quebec’s fracking moratorium under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and demanding $250 million in compensation.

The Amazon
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The White House is accusing Peru of violating its commitment to protect the Amazon rainforest, threatening to hold Lima in violation of the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement . Robert Lighthizer, President Trump's top trade negotiator, announced that he is seeking consultations with Lima to address concerns about its recent move to curtail the authority of Peru's auditor for timber exports, the Organism for the Supervision of Forestry Resources (OSINFOR), established as a provision of the trade agreement. The move move had been demanded by Peru's logging industry following an OSINFOR seizure of illegal timber. The White House needs support from congressional Democrats to pass the pending US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Trump's replacement for NAFTA, which is supposed to have tougher labor protections. The forestry annex in the Peru agreement was conceived as a model for a new inspection system that could include confiscation at the border of goods found to violate treaty provisions, and the prosecution of companies that import noncompliant products. (Image via Sierra Club)

Mexico
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President Trump announced that the US and Mexico have reached an agreement on a new trade deal called the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, which will ultimately terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump called Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto from the White House to announce the new deal. Among a number of changes to NAFTA, both parties agreed to a provision that would require a significant portion of vehicles to be made in high-wage factories, a measure aimed to discourage factory jobs from leaving the US. Trump said he is in communication with Canada about a new trade deal, but is unsure if it will be part of the US-Mexico Trade Agreement. The Trump administration expects the new pact to be signed by the end of November. (Map: CIA)