The Australia Council for the Arts’ Australian Export Strategy for Latin America has brokered joint ventures and collaborations, with a specific focus on Mexico and Brazil, involving Australian choreographers, theatre companies and creative artists.

Performing arts organisations and institutions such as the universities of Mexico and Guadalajara are working with Australian arts practitioners to stage joint productions and some theatre festivals have already hosted artists’ residencies.

Some of these projects include performances last year at the IberoAmerican Theatre Festival of Bogota in Columbia by street theatre artists led by Stalker’s David Clarkson, and Well Theatre’s Great Wall of Books, renamed Book of Revolutions, at the Bicentennial Expo in Guanajuato, Mexico.

More projects are in the pipeline for 2011. Choreographer Lucy Guerin hopes to export a joint production of her work Untrained to Brazil after visiting Rio de Janeiro last year, Ronald Peelman and The Song Company are working to mount a musical event in Guadalajara, Mexico in November and Brazil’s Belo Horizonte theatre festival this year will showcase contemporary Australian theatre practice.

“Latin America has tremendous potential as a regional trading partner for Australia,” he said. “I will be pursuing opportunities for Australia in mining, energy and clean energy during this visit.”

In Mexico, Crean will participate in a high-level meeting of the Joint Trade and Investment Commission with his Mexican counterpart, Gerardo Ruiz.

In Chile, Crean will visit an earthquake reconstruction site as the first Australian minister to visit Chile since the devastating earthquake of February 27. The Australian Government has provided $5 million in emergency and reconstruction assistance.

His Argentina stop will involve the promotion of Australia’s capabilities in clean energy and mining technology in conjunction with a Clean Energy Business Mission organised by the Council on Australia Latin America Relations, which will also carry through to Brazil.

Failure to bring its practices into line with international trade law could lead to commercial sanctions against China and Chinese goods.

The USA also has another case against China in relation to alleged price manipulation of key raw materials used in the production of steel and aluminium. The European Union and Mexico have joined the USA in accusing China of unfairly favouring their domestic industry by setting export quotas on materials such as coke, bauxite, magnesium and silicon metal.

China also has a couple of cases against the USA on trade issues involving poultry goods and tyres.

The European Union, Mexico and the USA have requested the WTO investigate incidents where China have allegedly limited materials used to produce steel, aluminium and chemicals. This in turn has driven up world prices for inputs, skewing price competition.

China says restrictions are required to protect the environment and conserve exhaustible natural resources.

Earlier consultations between the parties have failed to resolve the dispute, which led to the calls for a panel investigation. Under WTO rules, China cannot reject a second request for the panel, which is likely to proceed at the WTO’s dispute settlement body next meeting on December 21.

The three parties have accused China of restricting the export of raw materials required to make steel, aluminium and chemical products, which in turn has forced prices up for their manufacturers and has therefore given China a price advantage.

In a statement, EU trade commissioner Catherine Ashton said: “China’s restrictions on raw materials continue to distort competition and increase global prices, making conditions for our companies even more difficult in this economic climate.”

WTO rules allow export taxes, duties and charges but in general, prohibit other restrictions, including those related to supply.

Consultations with China have failed to resolve the issue, prompting the three to call for a WTO dispute settlement panel to preside over it.

Pack & Send CEO Michael Paul says the model has matured to the point where they are planning to set up franchises in Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico and Singapore in the next three years.

“Our plan will not only provide us with the opportunity to expand our franchise network internationally, but also provide our network with additional retail stores in key locations that will better service our customers’ freight around the world,” he said.

Pack & Send provides a personalised freight and logistics service, the strength of which comes from the relationship between the franchisees. Having operations in more countries will benefit the chain, particularly as the locations chosen are logistical centres of international freight movement.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon and US President Barack Obama agreed to combine their efforts to fight swine flu, which they expect to affect their people once again in the Northern Hemisphere winter.

They also addressed the issue of drug cartels that have been responsible for a number of murders, with all three countries pledging extra resources to combat the gangs.

However Obama and Calderon were unable to overcome a trucking dispute where the US have cancelled a program allowing Mexican trucks in the country, which saw Mexico hit back with $2.4 billion in tariffs on US goods, both breaching the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The three leaders also agreed to develop a joint position on climate change and cutting greenhouse gas emissions to take to the United Nations Copenhagen summit in December.

Bilateral trade passed $2 billion last year and the two ministers identified areas where the two economies could work together, including taking advantage of the respective proximity to the Asia-Pacific and North American markets.

They also confirmed their commitment to holding a Joint Trade and Investment Commission meeting soon, to identify new investment opportunities and to assess further means of strengthening the economic relationship between Australia and Mexico.

Representatives from Mexico’s export promotion agency ProMexico will conclude their visit to Australia today.

“There is a healthy skepticism about free trade and free-trade deals in the United States. That tendency is enhanced and exacerbated by the stresses of our current economic challenges, which results in a perverse policy prescription like ‘Buy American’ which is being advanced by our Congress in the United States and which is, in effect, protectionism on steroids,” he said.

Giffin spoke at the annual conference of the North American Supercorridor Coalition in Quebec, and said trade restrictions would bring economic inefficiencies and supported his call to retain free trade with statistics that show the benefits of NAFTA, including an increase in value of bilateral trade between Canada and the USA and a rise in employment, industrial output and hourly wages.

Australia leads the Asia-Pacific region with 5,298 cases, while Britain has recorded the most cases in Europe, 7,447.

The flu, which originated in North America, has now spread to 136 countries.

Argentina recorded the highest death rate over the weekend, with 34 fatalities since WHO’s last report on Friday and a total death toll of 60. Its death toll is now the world’s third highest behind the USA (170) and Mexico (119).

Some countries do not track all cases, which means the number of people with the virus may have already passed 100,000.