bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo

CAFTA


Trade pact proposal has US upside
A proposal to liberalize US trade with six Central American and Caribbean nations has received broad support from US agricultural groups. But the fate of the US-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement remains uncertain.
Sub-region integration a challenge to FTAA
The fifth annual World Social Forum will take place Jan. 26-31 in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre amidst an upsurge in Latin American sub-regional integration efforts, bolstered by the obvious failure of the project to create the hemisphere-wide Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
El Salvador: Congress approves FTA
The Legislative Assembly on Dec. 18 ratified the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), signed in May by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua with the United States. El Salvador was the first country to ratify the accord.
Trade agreement hits snag on Guatemala law
The USTR’s Office said Friday that Guatemala violated the terms of a pending Central American trade agreement with a new pharmaceutical data law the United States objects to.
Labour: The spread of bilateral trade agreements
This report looks at major Customs Unions, Free Trade Areas, and economic association agreements around the world, with particular attention to any clauses covering social issues, core labour standards and trade union participation.
The proposed US-SACU FTA: Comparison with FTAA, CAFTA, US-Chile and US-Singapore
Many civic organizations in the SACU region and the US, especially the labor unions, as well as other governments within Southern Africa note many possible disadvantages to the proposed US-SACU FTA.
SPS issues and free trade agreements
While the main US goal on agriculture in many FTA negotiations often is to secure non-SPS related concessions such as lower tariffs, the foreign partners often see the FTA as an opportunity to resolve outstanding SPS issues with the US as well as seek accelerated new market access to the US for their animal and plant products.
Dominican Republic excluded from CAFTA
The Bush administration has decided to exclude the Dominican Republic from the Central American Free Trade Agreement because the Dominican Republic has adopted a tax on products containing high fructose corn syrup, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said.
Dominican tax risks trade pact
The Bush administration is working to strip the Dominican Republic out of a wider free trade pact if the Caribbean nation does not repeal a recently implemented tax on soft drinks that affects U.S. exporters.
Central America is Not for Sale
A call for organizational sign-ons from the Central America is Not For Sale Coalition
Area sugar farmers see pledge as victory for industry
US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has promised to scrap the controversial US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) if elected president November 2.
US-Dominican Republic FTA plan suspended
The U.S. government has suspended plans to ratify a free-trade agreement with the Dominican Republic after lawmakers passed a 25 percent import tax on corn syrup last week, a top U.S. official said Monday.
Sugar beet farmers frame presidential election with troublesome trade deal
Sugar beet farmers in a rural Minnesota district that turned out solidly for President Bush in 2000 are having second thoughts about his re-election now that the administration is supporting a trade agreement they see as a threat.
Rough going for D.R. free-trade agreement
U.S. corn producers complained to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick after the Dominican Republic (D.R.) Congress decided to impose a 25% surcharge on imports of cheaper U.S. corn syrup for use as a sweetener.
The Future of Patentability in International Law according to the CAFTA
While discussions stagnate at the WTO over access to medicines, protection of indigenous knowledge and technology transfer, the United States and other developed countries multiply bilateral ‘TRIPs-plus’treaties with developing countries.
US ITC report on CAFTA
U.S.-Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement: Potential Economywide and Selected Sectoral Effects
Costa Rica: Protests bring country to the verge of paralysis
Nationwide protests in Costa Rica that started out with blockades of roads and freeways by truck drivers and which expanded Wednesday to include a broad range of groups threaten to paralyse this Central American country.
CAFTA: Recolonizing Central America
Managua, Nicaragua — "Prices are so low we have to grow more and more just to meet ends." That’s how a leader of a new Nicaraguan campesino organization, FEDICAMP, describes the current situation for small farmers here.
US free trade initiatives & their implications for the multilateral trading system
The rationale for regional integration between two or more countries would suggest that such agreements would need to be based on substantial trading interests.
Bilateral Treaties Undermine Rights
Bilateral trade treaties have hit stormy waters in recent weeks, drawing criticism from French President Jacques Chirac, a leading world economist and human rights groups alike.