The United States, Central America, Dominican Republic free trade agreement (CAFTA)

Includes bibliography

Electronic commerce, international trade and employment: review of the issues

Includes bibliography

United States-Latin America and the Caribbean trade developments, 2002

This document provides an overview of the most relevant developments in United States trade policy relating to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2002. U.S. policy continued to promote trade liberalization through advancing negotiations on multiple fronts- globally (WTO), regionally (FTAA) and bilaterally or sub regionally- with a view that the various negotiations are mutually reinforcing and seek to create a constructive competition for liberalization" among trade partners. The passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) included in the Trade Act of August 2002 enhanced the U.S. Administration's ability to negotiate trade agreements. It provided an impetus to conclude bilateral negotiations with Chile as well as to advance a number of trade agreements currently under negotiation, including negotiations toward the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and bilateral negotiations with Central America. The Trade Act also renewed the Generalized System of Preferences, extended the Caribbean Trade Partnership Act by liberalizing apparel provisions and augmented the Andean Trade Preference Act, increasing the list of duty free products. On the multilateral front, in partial fulfillment of the Doha mandate, the U.S. tabled in 2002 two comprehensive proposals for the reduction of trade barriers on agricultural and non-agricultural goods. Along with these trade liberalizing proposals, the U.S. Administration imposed temporary safeguard measures on key steel products to provide relief to the sectors of the steel industry that have been most affected by import surges. In addition, the U.S. Congress passed the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act that substantially increased U.S. domestic farm subsidies to shield domestic farm producers from competition from subsidized products from abroad."

International trade and maritime transport in the Caribbean

For the countries of the Caribbean, the international trade and transport of goods are more important than for many others in the region (see FAL Bulletin No. 136 Maritime transport in the Caribbean), and the subregion is strongly affected by structural changes in maritime transport (see FAL Bulletin No. 142 The impact of structural changes in liner shipping on Caribbean ports).For these reasons ECLAC's Transport Unit and the Commissions' sub-headquarters in the Caribbean, jointly organized a Meeting of Experts which took place in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 14 to 15 September 2000. Twenty-six participants took part, representing different academic, intergovernmental, financial and industrial institutions and organizations.This edition of the FAL Bulletin presents some of the results of this meeting.

Rules of origin and trade facilitation

The contents of this article complement those of the recently published FAL Bulletin No. 201, which referred to the rules of origin included in economic integration agreements signed by members of the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA). On this occasion the relationship between rules of origin and facilitation of international trade in goods is examined. The contents of both this issue and of FAL Bulletin No. 201 have been taken from a more extensive document written by the same author, which is publication No. 28 of the ECLAC Comercio Internacional Series, Normas de origen y procedimientos para su administración en América Latina, of May 2003.

Tourist Cruise Ships and the Trade in Services: Recent Trends in Countries of the Caribbean Basin

This issue of the Bulletin reviews the main trends of trade in goods and services for the countries of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) in 2004. The strong recovery of trade in goods and the robust expansion of trade in services are highlighted, emphasizing the increase in services as a proportion of total exports for the smaller Caribbean economies, which may even exceed 80%.A detailed analysis of the performance of the tourism component, especially travel, showed that in 2004 there was a boom in cruise ship arrivals, a situation which poses a real challenge for some islands in terms of ensuring a permanent flow of tourists and making use of the main comparative advantages -sun, sea and beaches- and possible linkages with the rest of the economy such as the hotel industry, restaurants, business and entertainment centres, guided excursions, transport, yachting, and others. In some islands, the ratio of cruise passengers to inhabitants is particularly high, and can reach a significant factor of about 11 tourists for every inhabitant in the Bahamas, 8 in Aruba, 7 in Antigua and Barbuda and 5 in Dominica, and around 4 for a sample of eleven countries.One of the main challenges for a number of Caribbean islands is how to capitalize on such linkages by developing sustainable tourism that minimizes the possible adverse impacts on the environment and the everyday life of the citizens.

United States Trade Developments 2012-2013

Includes bibliography.

Regional integration in the Caribbean: The role of trade agreements and structural transformation

Despite having relatively open economies and a dedicated strategic focus on export expansion, Caribbean economies still account for a small proportion of global trade (goods and services). This paper therefore posits that the subregion adopt a new dais of regional integration, which favours deeper trade and economic integration with countries which are the region’s natural trading partners.

Latin America’s competitive position in knowledge-intensive services trade

This study presents a dynamic analysis of Latin America's competitiveness in trade in knowledge-intensive services. The methodology used to undertake this analysis is based on the Tradecan approach developed by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), which provides a means of assessing different countries' competitiveness by looking at their exports to the fastest-growing markets. (In the past, it has usually been applied primarily to exports of goods.) The results suggest that, although some Latin American countries have made inroads in knowledge-intensive service segments and have comparative advantages in them, the percentage of "rising stars" (dynamic sectors in which a country or region is gaining in market share) is still low, while there is a high percentage of "missed opportunities" (dynamic sectors in which a country or region is losing market share). This points up the existence of areas in which the region's competitive position is weak and in which policies are needed to leverage its competitive advantages and remove the obstacles that are holding it back from establishing a more advantageous position in knowledge-intensive service markets.

The impact of China’s incursion into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on intra-industry trade

China has become a major player in world trade. Although it has not signed any trade agreements with the countries of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), China has been gaining ground as a supplier of goods, making vigorous inroads into this area. One of the dominant trends in economic integration has been the development of intra-industry trade, which has flourished in the nafta signatory countries. This paper focuses on the analysis of intra-industry trade in the context of this free trade area, where the production structure of the countries involved has changed significantly since trade liberalization, revealing the internationalization of production chains. Lastly, changes in the trade structure induced by the growing presence of China in the nafta region are captured. Trade within this area works like a radiated wheel, with the United States acting as the axis, while China, Canada and Mexico operate as the spokes.

United States Trade Developments 2013-2014

United States Trade Developments 2013-2014, is an annual report prepared by the ECLAC Washington Office. It provides an overview of the most relevant trade developments in the United States trade relations with Latin America and the Caribbean and the measures that inhibit the free flow of goods among countries in the Western Hemisphere. The report presents trade figures and trends over the last few years to illustrate the nature of the U.S. engagement through trade with the world and with the Latin America and Caribbean region. Special emphasis was given to trade among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico on the 20th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and to trade with Brazil, the second U.S .trade partner in the region, after Mexico.

United States Trade Developments 2014-2015

United States Trade Developments, 2014-2015, provides an overview of the most relevant trade developments in the United States trade relations with Latin America and the Caribbean and the measures that inhibit the free flow of goods among countries in the Western Hemisphere.The report presents trade figures and trends over the last few years to illustrate the nature of the U.S. engagement through trade with the world and with the Latin America and Caribbean region.

A "Beyond WTO" Scenario for Swiss Agriculture: Consequences for Income Generation and the Provision of Public Goods

The conclusion of the Doha Round negotiations is likely to influence Swiss agricultural policy substantially. The same goes for a free trade agreement in agriculture and food with the European Communities. Even though neither of them will bring about duty-free and quota-free market access, or restrict domestic support measures to green box compatible support, both would represent a big step in that direction. There is no empirical evidence on the effect of such a counterfactual scenario for Swiss agriculture. We therefore use a normative mathematical programming model to illustrate possible effects for agricultural production and the corresponding agricultural income. Moreover, we discuss the results with respect to the provision of public goods under the assumption of continuing green box-compatible direct payments. The aim of our article is to bring more transparency into the discussion on the effects of freer and less distorted trade on the income generation by a multifunctional agriculture. The article will be organized as follows. In the first Section we specify the background of our study. In the second section, we focus on the problem statement and our research questions. In Section 3, we describe in detail a counterfactual scenario of “duty-free, quota-free and price support-free” agriculture from an economic as well as a legal perspective. Our methodology and the results are presented in Section 4 and 5 respectively. In Section 6, we discuss our results with respect to economic and legal aspects of multifunctional agriculture.

Ceramics, Trade, Provenience and Geology: Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age

The island of Cyprus was a major producer of copper and stood at the heart of east Mediterranean trade networks during the Late Bronze Age. It may also have been the source of the Red Lustrous Wheelmade Ware that has been found in mortuary contexts in Egypt and the Levant, and in Hittite temple assemblages in Anatolia. Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has enabled the source area of this special ceramic to be located in a geologically highly localised and geochemically distinctive area of western Cyprus. This discovery offers a new perspective on the spatial organisation of Cypriot economies in the production and exchange of elite goods around the eastern Mediterranean at this time.