[…] What's interesting about free and fair trade amongst the nations is that the people benefit. For example, the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement is in its early stages, but trade between participating countries with the United States is up 23 percent.

[…] G-7 Finance Ministers welcome the international mediation efforts to end the hostilities and to bring about a political solution to the conflict in Georgia. The loss of life, humanitarian suffering and wider destruction over recent days is considerable, and we welcome commitments to assist with the urgent humanitarian needs.

[…] With global trade negotiations at a standstill, countries can increase trade flows by taking unilateral steps to speed up the movement of goods across international borders. Stephen Creskoff, a former Treasury Department official and veteran trade lawyer, says trade facilitation, or administrative and logistical measures designed to cut the cost and time of handling and processing exports and imports, often generates more trade than tariff cuts.

[…] While we made good progress during the past week, it is clear that despite our best efforts we will not be able to reach a breakthrough at this time," Schwab said at a July 29 briefing in Geneva where the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks were being held. "To ensure that the advances we made this week are not lost, the United States will continue to stand by our current offers, but we maintain that they are still contingent on others coming forward with ambitious offers that will create new market access."

[…] Daniel Ikenson, an economist at the Cato Institute, and Stephen Creskoff, a Washington-based trade attorney, stressed this point at a June 26 seminar in Washington devoted to trade facilitation -- the reduction of administrative and logistics barriers that slow down the shipment of goods across international borders. They said trade facilitation, an issue that has not received the attention it deserves, would increase global commerce more than tariff reductions at this point.

[…] The United States trade representative, Ambassador Susan Schwab, and her counterparts from east and southern Africa signed two important trade and investment agreements that will further deepen and expand U.S. trade ties with those regions. One agreement marks the first trade, investment and development cooperative agreement (TIDCA) with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).

[…] A BIT with China would not interfere with the ability of the United States to take any action necessary to protect the national security. All U.S. BITs include an “essential security” exception that allows the United States to take any action that is necessary to protect the national security, including action by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to condition or block a Chinese acquisition of control over a U.S. company.

[…] Two small Asian economic dynamos, Hong Kong and Singapore, are the most open to foreign trade of all the world's countries and entities, according to a new study. The Global Enabling Trade Report 2008 ranks 118 countries according to how well they enable the free flow of goods and investments through their borders. Ranked after the top two are Sweden and Norway. They are followed in the top 10 by Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Switzerland and New Zealand.

[…] Approval and implementation of the U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement would eliminate tariffs on goods produced by several of the companies attending today's event, including:
• Case New Holland, a world leader in the manufacturing of agricultural and construction equipment, whose Fargo, North Dakota, plant exported about 48 percent of its production in 2007.
The Case IH tractor faces a $15,500 tariff from Colombia.

When two women looked at the transportation problems faced by urban dwellers in the United States, they saw a business opportunity, as well as a way to help the planet. Together they founded Zipcar Inc., the world's largest car-sharing business. In another corner of the globe, a woman entrepreneur used her skills and determination to create and run a successful printing company.

[…] Many also agree the constitutional referendum scheduled for May is unlikely to lead to the type of change necessary. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, in a statement in early February, referred to Burma's "pervasive climate of fear, in which virtually the entire opposition, including Aung San Suu Kyi, is under detention …." No referendum held under these conditions can be free, fair and credible, he said.

[…] Since the United States, Canada and Mexico established the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, trade has tripled, laying a firm foundation for expanded regional cooperation among three countries united by geography and a shared belief in democracy, President Bush says.

[…] It took Nancy Floyd almost three years to raise $65 million for the first venture capital fund focused on energy technologies. In the world of venture capital, $65 million was a meager amount. “It was like pushing a boulder uphill,” she told America.gov. “Markets [for those technologies] weren’t there yet.”

[…] Today, President Bush met with former Cabinet Secretaries and senior government officials and discussed the need for pro-growth economic policies, including opening new markets for U.S. exports through free trade agreements. Open markets contribute to America's prosperity. With exports now accounting for a larger percentage of our GDP than at any other time in our history, trade is playing an important role in supporting economic growth.

[…] The study, titled “Blue Collar Blues” and published by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, says the recent increase in U.S. income inequality has little to do with globalization, which is perceived by some Americans as harming unskilled workers. In the study, income inequality is defined as the difference between real, or inflation-adjusted, blue-collar wages and business-sector output per hour. In 2000-2006, it has roughly increased by 30 percent.

[…] The Export Control Directive mandates the commitment of additional financial and other resources, as well as procedural reforms, that will expedite the processing of export license applications for items controlled by the U.S. Munitions List. Although license processing times will be reduced as a result of this directive, the Administration is committed to ensuring that existing measures to prevent the diversion of such items to unauthorized recipients remain strong and effective.

[…] For all its legitimate importance, the word “innovation” has become something of an all-purpose cliché.

Punch it into the Google search engine -- itself a prime example of innovation on a grand scale -- and one gets no fewer than 87,800,000 “hits.” A dictionary definition is quite straightforward: Merriam-Webster Online sees innovation as “a new idea, method or device.”

[…] “Peruvian access to the U.S. market, which had to be renewed by Congress periodically, will become permanent. This permanent access will help build a more efficient and effective economic engine to create growth, jobs and economic opportunities both in Peru and in the United States,” Rice said in a statement.

[…] And I want to share with you some thoughts about an important debate that we're engaged in here. I believe the outcome of this debate will determine whether we embrace new opportunities for free and fair trade, or whether or not we'll become protectionists. My position is clear: We will work with Congress to open up new markets for American goods, and services, and farm products -- to make sure this economy continues to grow and our people have a high standard of living.

[…] The two officials said the United States is “deeply disappointed” that the talks among senior officials of the United States, the European Union (EU), Brazil and India designed to revive the stalled WTO process broke down when the Brazilian and Indian delegations walked away from the negotiations.

[…] The program -- run by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women Summit, and Vital Voices Global Partnership -- gives gifted young businesswomen the opportunity to develop leadership, management and business skills and gain experience in the U.S. business world.