Trade for Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (original) (raw)
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Trade: The Undervalued Driver of Regional Integration in Latin America
Many regional organisations in Latin America are currently in crisis. Trade agreements, however, have made progress in the region. Today, 80 per cent of intra-regional trade is already under preferences. In March 2017 several international financial organisations – the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) – each independently proposed the creation of a Latin American and Caribbean free trade area. Although ideological polarisation and the economic crisis led to a stagnation of high-flying regional cooperation projects, regional projects with more pragmatic and issue-specific objectives, such as the Pacific Alliance (PA), are gaining ground. In contrast to Trump’s protectionist policies, an overwhelming majority of Latin Americans support free trade with neighbouring countries and regional economic integration. Tariffs are no longer the main obstacles to increasing trade in Latin America. The existing network of preferential trade agreements in Latin America provides a platform for the implementation of a regional free trade area. The elimination of non-tariff measures, the harmonisation of rules of origin, and the lowering of transport costs by improving the infrastructure and the interoperability of national customs systems can increase intra-regional trade. Pragmatic regionalism strives for a harmonisation of rules and standards but does not aspire to create supranational institutions.
Mercosur and the Creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas
Summary and examination of negotiations aimed at the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, with special attention to the positions of Mercosur countries. The objective is to analyze the economic incentives, on the social and on the private level, of the different alternatives for trade liberalization. That is to say, information is processed to deeply understand the different negotiation scenarios, the bilateral as against the plurilateral alternative, considering aggregated as well as particular national interests in each country/region. The integration process involves many subjects (the harmonization of domestic policies on competition, environmental and labor standards, intellectual property, and so on) and sectors (now including services). Although many of these issues are mentioned and discussed, the focus here is on the changes in market access associated with the proposed liberalization of the trade opening for goods, the area in which MERCOSUR has its clearest interest.
Journal of Asian Economics, 2002
This article provides an overview of the realities and reasons for proliferation of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) in Latin America and the Caribbean, and then proceeds to assess the evidence from the region as regards the following key analytical and policy issues raised by proliferation: Has trade diversion been a serious problem in the RTAs and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) engaged by Latin American and Caribbean countries? Have RTAs been able to make more progress in liberalization than multilateral negotiations, or allowed member countries to integrate more deeply? Has proliferation in Latin America diverted attention away from multilateral negotiations? What problems have been created by overlaps between RTAs and how significant these problems have been? Have RTAs contributed to domestic policy reform and, if so, how? What has been the role of macro and micro-economic policies in RTAs?. Finally, the paper summarizes the main conclusions and challenges posed by proliferation of RTAs in Latin America. I.
Intra-regional versus Inter-regional Trade Liberalization for Central America
2016
The countries in the Central American region (henceforth CA: Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) have signed multiple trade agreements in the recent past. Sometimes the whole CA worked as a unified agent, for instance vis a vis the United States or the European Union. In other cases, some individual countries took the initiative to extend their list of freely tradeable goods and services. CA exports and imports very extensively with the United States (39% of the aggregate exports). However, the recent growth of the intra-regional trade has been especially remarkable: the experts emphasize that such trade generates more internal added value than the inter-regional one, which may allow for higher local welfare and a more favorable external balance for CA. That happens because most of the CA world exports are agricultural goods or products intensive in the use of natural resources. On the other hand, in the intra-regional markets these countries exchange...
The International Trade Journal, 2009
The president signed the CAFTA-DR agreement in August 2005. All members have ratified this agreement. CAFTA-DR is designed to enhance political stability, growth, and economic integration in the region by fostering trade and investment. 1 Negotiations to establish CAFTA-DR followed a long process of unilateral and regional trade policy reforms undertaken by CA/DR countries since the late 1980s. 2 Early reforms were intended to stimulate economic activity in the region by pursuing outward-oriented development strategies. CA/DR countries began to reduce tariffs unilaterally in the late 1980s and eliminated most nontariff barriers. For these members, average tariffs fell from 45 percent in 1985 to 14 percent in 1990, and to seven percent by 1999. Other reforms included the removal of exchange controls, using export processing zones (EPZs) to promote exports, opening up to foreign direct investment, and increased participation in bilateral, regional, and global agreements. CA/DR countries also actively pursued bilateral or subregional FTA negotiations with other Western Hemisphere countries to stimulate trade and investment. Examples include Costa Rica's