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US on select free trade talks
Washington, Nov 20: The United States is launching bilateral free trade talks with a handful of Latin American countries as it tries to build momentum for its stalled Hemispherewide pact on its own terms.
Washington, Nov 20: The United States is launching bilateral free trade talks with a handful of Latin American countries as it tries to build momentum for its stalled
Hemispherewide pact on its own terms.
US negotiators, The Wall Street Journal reports, have not been able to report much progress after four days of multilateral talks in Miami with 33 other countries aimed at creating a free trade area of the Americas.
However, US trade representative Robert Zoellick is intent on lining up the bricks one by one. He announced plans yesterday to begin new trade talks with Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia as well as Panama. The flurry of bilateral initiatives, the paper said, is taking place amid continued jousting over the basic framework of the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) as the January 2005 target date for signing an accord draws near.
The problem the US basically has is with Brazil.
Brazilian negotiators are pushing for a scaled-back version of FTAA that would allow countries to assume different levels of commitment to free trade. A draft declaration, hammered out in advance of this week's summit, would open the door to "plurilateral" talks among countries that want to participate in some parts of the pact but not others.
Brazil has said it wants to set aside several trade liberalisation issues championed by the US, including government procurement rules, intellectual property rights and laws governing investment and services.
Bureau Report
However, US trade representative Robert Zoellick is intent on lining up the bricks one by one. He announced plans yesterday to begin new trade talks with Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia as well as Panama. The flurry of bilateral initiatives, the paper said, is taking place amid continued jousting over the basic framework of the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) as the January 2005 target date for signing an accord draws near.
The problem the US basically has is with Brazil.
Brazilian negotiators are pushing for a scaled-back version of FTAA that would allow countries to assume different levels of commitment to free trade. A draft declaration, hammered out in advance of this week's summit, would open the door to "plurilateral" talks among countries that want to participate in some parts of the pact but not others.
Brazil has said it wants to set aside several trade liberalisation issues championed by the US, including government procurement rules, intellectual property rights and laws governing investment and services.
Bureau Report