Toward Free Trade in the Americas / Edition 1

by Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Maryse Robert

Overview

"In the past 15 years, the nations of the Western Hemisphere have staged a remarkable revolution—in the way they trade with their neighbors. First, after decades of restrictive import policies, several countries began to liberalize their trade and investment regimes. Then, beginning a decade ago, numerous bilateral and sub-regional trade agreements were achieved, to serve as vital complements to domestic reforms and to foster trade flows among member countries. At the Second Summit of the Americas in 1998, negotiations among 34 democracies were launched to establish the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). This report takes stock of the remarkable progress to date in the development of free trade in the Western Hemisphere. It examines trade flows between countries in the same regional groupings and between members of different sub-regional arrangements. The report describes the main characteristics of the trade arrangements signed between countries of the Hemisphere and explores the development of trade rules in these arrangements. Finally, the report details recent advances in the construction of the FTAA.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815700890
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/01/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

"José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs is the chief trade advisor at the Organization of American States. Maryse Robert is a senior trade specialist with the Trade Unit of the OAS."

Editorial Reviews

Unquestioningly viewing NAFTA, the proposed FTAA, and other neo- liberal "free-trade" treaties as an unalloyed good, this collection of essays looks at institutional (as opposed to social) barriers to implementing the full neo-liberal agenda across the two American continents. The product of a team effort by the Organization of American States Trade Unit, 15 articles explore such issues as the main trends in trade and investment flows in the Americas, the history and institutional frameworks of the existing trade agreements signed by American States, tariff and non-tariff barriers to agricultural goods, intellectual property right, government procurement, and dispute settlement. Finally, progress towards the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas is examined. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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