Bye bye Thai…

According to Reuters, Thailand has postponed further discussions on an FTA with the US and delayed signing a deal with Japan pending the outcome of special elections on April 2. Thailand’s prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, dissolved Parliament on February 24 following months of allegations of abuse of power and calls for him to step down. Thailand’s former chief trade negotiator resigned in January after the last round of FTA talks with the US in part due to harsh criticism over the handling of the agreement.

… and Dubai
the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced that the next round of talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) between the US and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been postponed. A USTR spokeswoman said the two sides “need additional time to prepare” and did not indicate when the negotiations, which had been scheduled to resume on March 13, will take place.

Switzerland USTR Portman and Swiss Economic Minister Joseph Deiss agreed in January to create a Swiss-US Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum, effectively ending FTA talks for the time being. A joint statement left open the possibility for FTA talks in the future.