ISDS Case Map
Mercosur
As indicated by CAFTA's ratification, instead of pushing for the enactment of the FTAA, the Bush administration has re-evaluated its strategy, now attempting to build up momentum by establishing separate free trade agreements with the different regions in the hemisphere through a "divide-and-conquer" strategy.
DR-CAFTA's narrow victory will incite US domestic producers' lobbies to exert heavier pressure to get a US-Panama agreement more favorable to US industry.
The European Union hopes to reach a free trade agreement with Latin American trade group Mercosur by May 2006. But some Brazilian diplomats said Brazil wishes to delay the signing of the agreement till the end of the Doha round so as to seek more concessions from the EU on issues regarding agricultural products.
Encouraged by its successful preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Mercosur countries, India is trying to increase its influence in the Latin American and Caribbean region by exploring possibilities of PTAs with the Andean community, Chile and countries in the Central America Integration System (SICA).
MERCOSUR, a trading zone of South American countries, has agreed to initiate a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Pakistan.
Israel is beginning negotiations for a free trade agreement with the Mercado Comun del Sur (Mercosur) countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay).
South American and Arab leaders showed the US this week that they can be a force to be reckoned with - at least when it comes to talking tough. But whether they will be able to fulfill their pledges hinges on their ability to look beyond domestic agendas and resist American efforts to lure them away with lucrative bilateral trade deals.
The signing of the agreement is regarded as the first concrete fruit of the South American-Arab summit taking place in Brasilia this week.
Canada has pursued trade opportunities beyond the U.S. by entering into a number of traditional and innovative bilateral agreements.
The text of the framework of the free trade agreement between the Mercosur and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is ready to be singed, a Brazilian foreign ministry official has disclosed.
