https://znetwork.org/category/topic/economy/globalization/trade-agreements/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Fri, 22 May 2026 14:18:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/category/topic/economy/globalization/trade-agreements/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/labor-beyond-borders/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/labor-beyond-borders/#respond Fri, 22 May 2026 15:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1298538 “TARIFF” MAY BE Trump’s the most delightful word in the English language, but for workers, it represents a danger. It’s like accepting a two-tier wage structure to keep one’s job. Been there, done that. When Shawn Fain supported Trump’s auto tariffs, he made the mistake of thinking that a narcissistic businessman could develop a policy [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/labor-beyond-borders/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-beijing-summit-rewrites-the-rules-of-superpower-economic-engagement/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-beijing-summit-rewrites-the-rules-of-superpower-economic-engagement/#respond Mon, 18 May 2026 20:45:23 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1298358 The conclusion of the high-stakes Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on May 14 marked a critical pivot in the structural architecture of the international system. This meeting matters profoundly because it introduces an unexpected floor to a relationship that many analysts predicted would enter a terminal downward spiral under a second Trump [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-beijing-summit-rewrites-the-rules-of-superpower-economic-engagement/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-its-essential-to-fix-the-usmca/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-its-essential-to-fix-the-usmca/#respond Fri, 15 May 2026 16:30:02 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1298224 Nancy Duran Rodriguez took several pairs of work gloves to Mexico in 2025, intending to hand them out as a goodwill gesture to fellow union workers she met there. But Duran Rodriguez, a member of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6787 in Burns Harbor, Indiana, discovered that some of her Mexican counterparts lacked even the most [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/why-its-essential-to-fix-the-usmca/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-south-koreas-billions-will-upgrade-trumps-war-machine/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-south-koreas-billions-will-upgrade-trumps-war-machine/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293461 In a flagrant disregard for international law and national sovereignty, the Trump administration invaded and kidnapped Venezuela’s President Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. Rather than being an isolated event, the increasing bravado of and remarks from President Donald Trump open the terrifying possibility that, if not opposed, Trump’s war machine will proliferate its aggressions, with next [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-south-koreas-billions-will-upgrade-trumps-war-machine/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/g20-cop30-and-more-mickey-mouse-multilateralism-to-come/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/g20-cop30-and-more-mickey-mouse-multilateralism-to-come/#respond Mon, 24 Nov 2025 17:07:35 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1291606 The third weekend in November offered the world two disastrous days for solving polycrisis problems, starting in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belém at the United Nations climate summit (‘COP30’) on November 22, just as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hosted (most of) the Group of 20 leaders in Johannesburg. The G20 comprises 19 of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/g20-cop30-and-more-mickey-mouse-multilateralism-to-come/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/sanctions-are-not-only-not-an-alternative-to-war-they-are-more-deadly/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/sanctions-are-not-only-not-an-alternative-to-war-they-are-more-deadly/#respond Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:54:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288721 Increasingly, the United States and the European Union leverage their dominance in the world capitalist system to impose sanctions on other countries. Political leaders who impose these sanctions sometimes argue that sanctions are a “more humane” alternative to war. But that is not necessarily so. Sanctions are war by another name. How deadly are sanctions? [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/sanctions-are-not-only-not-an-alternative-to-war-they-are-more-deadly/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/brics-meet-to-fight-trump-tariffs/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/brics-meet-to-fight-trump-tariffs/#respond Thu, 11 Sep 2025 15:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1288418 Elphas Nkosi: It is now four minutes after 12 p.m. Central African time. Welcome to the Monday edition of the News Hour right here on Markus Zahaba Online Radio, my name is Elphas Nkosi. There’s an article written by Peter Bruce in the Sunday Times yesterday. We are very concerned as it appears that Pretoria [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/brics-meet-to-fight-trump-tariffs/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/can-we-do-better-than-trumpian-or-neoliberal-trade-policy-yes/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/can-we-do-better-than-trumpian-or-neoliberal-trade-policy-yes/#respond Wed, 06 Aug 2025 18:30:17 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1286999 U. S. President Donald Trump has remade the international trading system by ending the so-called “free trade” era and bringing back protectionism. In doing so, he has created massive uncertainty in the U.S. and global economies and has thrown into disarray the traditional left-right divide on international trade. However, as left-wing economist Arthur MacEwan argues [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/can-we-do-better-than-trumpian-or-neoliberal-trade-policy-yes/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/anc-nec-meeting-us-tariffs-gnu-brics-trade-relations/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/anc-nec-meeting-us-tariffs-gnu-brics-trade-relations/#respond Mon, 04 Aug 2025 15:58:00 +0000 SABC: The ANC says it is happy with the case made by the South African delegation led by President Cyril Ramaphosa to the US in May this year. This is despite the team failing to convince the US administration to lower its proposed tariffs against Pretoria. The Donald Trump administration has slapped South African goods [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/anc-nec-meeting-us-tariffs-gnu-brics-trade-relations/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/massive-us-eu-trade-pact-signed/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/massive-us-eu-trade-pact-signed/#respond Thu, 31 Jul 2025 15:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1286793 n a surprise deal struck in Scotland, the United States and European Union have agreed to a 15% tariff on key European exports and a $750-billion EU commitment to buy American energy. Political economist Prof. Patrick Bond weighs in on the economic and geopolitical impact of the agreement. Newzroom Afrika: The United States and the European [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/massive-us-eu-trade-pact-signed/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/analysis-shows-big-corporations-are-using-trump-trade-chaos-as-cover-to-jack-up-prices/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/analysis-shows-big-corporations-are-using-trump-trade-chaos-as-cover-to-jack-up-prices/#respond Wed, 30 Jul 2025 17:43:06 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1286747 The effects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are winding their way through the American economy, and a new piece of analysis claims that corporate America is using them as “cover” to further jack up prices. Progressive advocacy group Groundwork Collaborative issued a new report on Tuesday that uses corporate executives’ own words to show how [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/analysis-shows-big-corporations-are-using-trump-trade-chaos-as-cover-to-jack-up-prices/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/at-the-rio-summit-signs-of-brics-in-retreat-just-when-we-need-serious-anti-imperial-muscle/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/at-the-rio-summit-signs-of-brics-in-retreat-just-when-we-need-serious-anti-imperial-muscle/#respond Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:01:47 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1285773 On Sunday-Monday, July 6-7, leaders from the BRICS countries will meet in Rio de Janeiro for their annual summit. Because Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will also host the UN annual climate summit in December, the BRICS event was pushed relatively early. That means the bloc’s work schedule has been curtailed, even in [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/at-the-rio-summit-signs-of-brics-in-retreat-just-when-we-need-serious-anti-imperial-muscle/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/north-american-solidarity-needed-to-navigate-trumps-trade-wars/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/north-american-solidarity-needed-to-navigate-trumps-trade-wars/#respond Mon, 02 Jun 2025 13:02:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1284488 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/north-american-solidarity-needed-to-navigate-trumps-trade-wars/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/beginning-or-end-of-the-tariff-war-between-the-us-and-china/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/beginning-or-end-of-the-tariff-war-between-the-us-and-china/#respond Thu, 15 May 2025 15:46:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1283750 The patience, strategic thinking, and chess-like approach of China’s leadership have once again proven their strength. Even one of the oldest weekly publications in the world, the British conservative Spectator, ran a cover story with a title that says it all: ‘China Has Won the Trade War with Trump’. Notice the subtle message between the lines? In this [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/beginning-or-end-of-the-tariff-war-between-the-us-and-china/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-ukraine-minerals-deal-2-0-capitulation/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-ukraine-minerals-deal-2-0-capitulation/#respond Thu, 08 May 2025 15:45:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1283471 Last week the Trump administration and Ukraine finally signed a deal on sharing Ukraine mineral rights. But a closer consideration of the published document shows this Mineral Deal 2.0 is fundamentally different from the 1.0 deal Trump proposed in February. One might more accurately call it a Trump capitulation. In March Trump’s initial 1.0 deal [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-ukraine-minerals-deal-2-0-capitulation/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-high-stakes-global-battle-over-trumps-tariffs/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-high-stakes-global-battle-over-trumps-tariffs/#respond Tue, 06 May 2025 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1283407 Trump’s ‘tariff war’ is not an issue solely or even primarily about the US economy. It is an attempt to bring the entire world trading system under unilateral US control, removing any minimal element of multilateral negotiation from it. In essence, the United States, despite accounting for only 11% of world trade and 4% of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-high-stakes-global-battle-over-trumps-tariffs/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/trumps-tariffs-trade-war-on-south-africa-the-working-class-with-patrick-bond/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/trumps-tariffs-trade-war-on-south-africa-the-working-class-with-patrick-bond/#respond Thu, 01 May 2025 15:57:00 +0000 The imposition of tariffs on countries around the world has had a major impact on South Africa and many other countries in Africa. University of Johannesburg political economist Patrick Bond discusses the role of the Trump and Musk In South Africa.]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/trumps-tariffs-trade-war-on-south-africa-the-working-class-with-patrick-bond/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/could-trumps-tariff-war-reshape-global-capitalism/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/could-trumps-tariff-war-reshape-global-capitalism/#respond Tue, 29 Apr 2025 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1283125 Sam Gindin is a former research director for the Canadian Auto Workers union and Packer Visiting Chair in Social Justice at York University. He is also the coauthor of The Making of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy Of American Empire (with Leo Panitch), In and Out of Crisis: The Global Financial Meltdown and Left Alternatives (with Greg Albo and [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/could-trumps-tariff-war-reshape-global-capitalism/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/our-economy-our-country-our-union/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/our-economy-our-country-our-union/#respond Sat, 19 Apr 2025 15:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1282691 Transcript Transcript originally from Jacobin available here There’s a lot of uncertainty about what this moment holds for the working class. We’re in the middle of two massive transformations. One is in our economic system, where the rules of global trade are being upended, with huge implications for workers everywhere. The other major transformation is [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/our-economy-our-country-our-union/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-tariffs-and-trade/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-tariffs-and-trade/#respond Sat, 19 Apr 2025 15:49:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282684 There is a giant problem that commentators are ignoring. The United States’ trade deficit is of incredible proportions and is only sustainable because the dollar is the world’s reserve currency – a status it is going to lose. The US trade deficit in 2024 was approximately 1.2 trillion dollars. GDP was approximately 30.1 trillion dollars. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-tariffs-and-trade/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tariffs-trump-and-the-global-south/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tariffs-trump-and-the-global-south/#respond Fri, 11 Apr 2025 15:05:57 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282314 As of April 9, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher tariffs for over 75 countries, reducing them to a baseline 10% rate, while excluding China, which now faces a sharply increased tariff of 125%. This pause, set to expire on July 4, 2025, offers a temporary reprieve for many nations, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/tariffs-trump-and-the-global-south/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-best-response-to-tariff-wars-declare-economic-independence/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-best-response-to-tariff-wars-declare-economic-independence/#respond Fri, 11 Apr 2025 14:27:58 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282300 Where I live, in Palm Springs, California, Canadian snowbirds are selling off their properties and angrily vowing never to return to the United States. Once back home, our northern neighbors are pulling Kentucky bourbon and other US goods from the shelves and liberating themselves from the tariff-obsessed lunatic in the Oval Office. The same story [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-best-response-to-tariff-wars-declare-economic-independence/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-tariffs-buck-the-global-neoliberal-order-but-still-serve-the-1-percent/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-tariffs-buck-the-global-neoliberal-order-but-still-serve-the-1-percent/#respond Fri, 11 Apr 2025 13:38:06 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1282283 Since assuming office, the Trump administration has taken actions resembling those of an absolutist state: undermining civil rights and democracy at home while introducing a reciprocal tariffs plan that has unleashed chaos around the world. Indeed, Donald Trump’s “liberation day,” a declaration of economic war on the rest of the planet, wiped several trillions of dollars in market value [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-tariffs-buck-the-global-neoliberal-order-but-still-serve-the-1-percent/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/debunking-the-fallacy-behind-trumps-disastrous-tariffs/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/debunking-the-fallacy-behind-trumps-disastrous-tariffs/#respond Fri, 04 Apr 2025 13:36:44 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1281996 U.S. President Donald Trump is trashing the world trade system over a basic economic fallacy. He wrongly claims that America’s trade deficit is caused by the rest of the world ripping off the U.S., repeatedly stating things such as, “Over the decades, they ripped us off like no country has never been ripped off in history…” Trump aims to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/debunking-the-fallacy-behind-trumps-disastrous-tariffs/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/solidarity-with-jagjit-singh-dallewal-in-support-of-indian-farmers/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/solidarity-with-jagjit-singh-dallewal-in-support-of-indian-farmers/#respond Sun, 16 Mar 2025 16:01:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1281131 We express our solidarity with Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a farmer leader of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) Non-Political, whose hunger strike to death has now passed 60 days. We support his pursuit of a legally guaranteed implementation of a universal Minimum Support Price (MSP) and other demands of the farmer strike that restarted in February last year. He [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/solidarity-with-jagjit-singh-dallewal-in-support-of-indian-farmers/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-democrats-necessary-apology/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-democrats-necessary-apology/#respond Tue, 11 Mar 2025 16:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1280852 An old friend asked me to write a short piece on what I think we (progressives) should do now. I mentioned some immediate ways to stem the Trump Blitzkrieg. I largely agree with the Nicholas Kristof price of eggs approach, although I think it’s also essential to demonize “Elon the Nazi.” Politicians should be embarrassed to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-democrats-necessary-apology/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/speak-claudia/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/speak-claudia/#respond Wed, 05 Mar 2025 18:36:16 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1280578 Watching that procession of hapless European supplicants passing through the Oval Office this week, my mind wandered briefly and came back with an imaginary scene I found pleasurable and instructive all at once: What if Claudia Sheinbaum went to see President Trump right after Andrzej Duda, the ineffectual Polish president, Emmanuel Macron, the ineffectual French [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/speak-claudia/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/international-solidarity-is-the-union-answer-to-tariffs-and-deportations/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/international-solidarity-is-the-union-answer-to-tariffs-and-deportations/#respond Tue, 25 Feb 2025 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1280260 United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain has recently expressed the UAW’s readiness to “work with Trump on trade.” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke on a podcast against “illegal immigrants that come into our country to commit crimes and steal jobs.” But based on my experience, in the long run, international solidarity is the only way we can [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/international-solidarity-is-the-union-answer-to-tariffs-and-deportations/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-can-u-s-and-mexican-workers-build-cross-border-solidarity/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-can-u-s-and-mexican-workers-build-cross-border-solidarity/#respond Tue, 03 Dec 2024 17:15:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276565 Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was passed in 1993, the economies of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico have become increasingly integrated. Workers in all three countries have suffered as corporations have used trade rules to maximize profits, push down wages and benefits, and manage the flow of people displaced by these rules. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-can-u-s-and-mexican-workers-build-cross-border-solidarity/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/claudia-sheinbaums-defiant-letter-to-donald-trump-a-blueprint-for-a-new-era-in-us-mexico-relations/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/claudia-sheinbaums-defiant-letter-to-donald-trump-a-blueprint-for-a-new-era-in-us-mexico-relations/#respond Sun, 01 Dec 2024 17:56:10 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1276468 Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s newly elected president, has made a bold and defining move in her first year in office: addressing Donald Trump head-on with a letter that is as diplomatic as it is uncompromising. Her powerful message lays out a vision for US-Mexican relations built on mutual respect, collaboration, and accountability. Sheinbaum’s words are a [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/claudia-sheinbaums-defiant-letter-to-donald-trump-a-blueprint-for-a-new-era-in-us-mexico-relations/feed/ 0