Washington, Nov 30: With major global or even regional free trade agreements eluding its grasp, the US is now pursuing numerous trade pacts with smaller countries which would have limited economic impact but which it hopes will ease the path to its ultimate goal of a world-wide business zone. The US is currently working towards free trade agreements with 19 countries, though the impact of bilateral agreements on businesses and jobs is expected to be limited because the countries have relatively small economies.
US Trade Representative Robert B Zoellick and Mark Vaile, Australia's Trade Minister, met this week and their negotiating teams will gather next week in Washington to try to finalise a deal.
Negotiators from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua will be in Washington in the second week of December, hoping to finalise terms for a deal between the US and the five-nation trade bloc.
'The Washington Times' said many US business groups are eager for the deals so that they can get easier access to the markets but others are worried that competition from central America will cost profits or jobs.
The two proposed pacts, said the paper, are also indicative of the limited economic impact of bilateral or small regional agreements.
Bureau Report