Americas


Bilateral deal-making involving governments of Latin America, the US and Canada.

last update: May 2012

Photo: rabble / CC BY-SA 2.0


Trade liberalisation without co-operation a no-no
William Jefferson Clinton once said that “the opposition to globalisation in the world is rooted in people who feel left out, left behind and stepped on in other countries.” Apparently, having accepted our status as doormats, the developing world has once again sent our highest authorities to the other end of the world to continue to hammer out a trade deal that maintains our city-mouse/country-mouse dynamic.
Reciprocal investment protection
The Heads of State and/or Government of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), during the Panama Summit held in July of this year, recognised in its Declaration, “the importance of having a Framework Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments among ACS members, an instrument that will help to promote, protect and confer legal certainty on investments ...”
CARICOM signs free trade agreement with Cuba
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders and Cuban President Fidel Castro have made an agreement giving Cuba access to free trade in the region.
DR, Mercosur initiate talks on free trade
The Common Market of the South (Mercosur), made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, today signed a "document of intention" with Dominican Republic for "broadening the common political and economic dialogue."
No pax americana
Indigenous movements are indeed a threat to the free-trade policies Bush is hawking, with ever fewer buyers, across Latin America. Their power comes not from terror but a terror-resistant strain of hope, so sturdy it can take root in the midst of Colombia's seemingly hopeless civil war.
Free trade isn't free of partisan politics
Bitter partisanship is putting the United States' trade agenda in the Americas in serious jeopardy.
The fleeting charm of free trade
The signs are scattered and tentative. But it's beginning to look as if American-style free trade is going out of style.
Caribbean: Trade winds gusting as region faces WTO meet
Recent developments in international trade highlight the difficulties facing the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) as it prepares for a key World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting in Hong Kong this December.
Caricom/Costa Rica free trade agreement being held up
The Caricom/Costa Rica free trade agreement is being held up while Costa Rica debates what is, essentially, a model for future trade pacts.
Trade pacts to the south losing appeal
An ambitious American plan for a hemispherewide trade pact, which President Bush described as a "vital link for prosperity," is mired in disputes that have led to widespread skepticism about its chances of ever materializing.