New US Trade Deal: What's in It for Us?

This article was published in the Sunday Times in Johannesburg, SA. It is from a South African point of view and discusses the short fallings of the WTO talks in Cancun, among others, that is causing developing countries to continue to enter into bilateral free trade agreements with the 'rich and powerful' countries. Their belief is that the more powerful countries, such as the U.S., will force their will on the developing countries in these trade agreements causing the benefits of trade for the developing countries to be all but beneficial for them. When trade agreements go from the multilateral to the bilateral format, it seems that agriculture (the most important element for developing countries) is not included in the trade discussions. Developing countries still have hope that the next WTO meeting (the Doha Development Round) will get back on track and give them a bit more leverage in the multilateral format. But for now, some are receiving benefits through the bilateral and regional free trade agreements with developed countries through such policies as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) which allows easier and more favourable access to larger markets such as the U.S.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200409270388.html