Cuba: Open for Business, But…
Now that U.S. and Cuban flags fly over reestablished embassies in Washington and Havana, the question on many minds is: Is Cuba open for business? The short answer: Yes, but with caveats. In leading four Americas Society/Council of the Americas business delegations to the island over the past three years to explore possible investment opportunities, … Read more
Why We Need A Global Trade Deal
With growth in Latin America expected to decline for a fifth consecutive year in 2015, trade can be a powerful engine for economic renewal. However, it’s clear to most observers that at present this engine is not firing on all cylinders. The World Trade Organization (WTO) forecasts a rise of just 0.2 percent in the … Read more
Harvesting Hope
Correction appended below Being a consumer today is a fraught enterprise. The marketplace is no longer simply a venue for satisfying individual preferences. It is now an arena for expressing social and political identity, and even a mechanism for addressing some of consumerism’s less desirable side effects—from environmental degradation to exploitative labor practices. But consumerism’s … Read more
Bloc That Trade
The old vision of economic integration in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has failed. Over the past decades, LAC countries have concluded more than 60 bilateral trade agreements, as well as formed a number of powerful trade blocs. But the region’s social, political and economic advances have not produced the productive integration that would … Read more
The Peruvian Success Story
Trade and investment are vital for a middle-income economy like Peru, which requires access to export markets and a steady supply of external capital flows in order to thrive. Peru’s foreign trade of goods and services measured by value is equivalent to 48 percent of its GDP.1 For over a decade, Peru has sustained an … Read more
Getting to Win-Win: FTAs in the Americas
Over the past several decades, many of the hemisphere’s trade agreements have included impressively robust provisions on labor and the environment, but gaps in both implementation and enforcement have raised concerns about their effectiveness. Those concerns are especially timely as the region’s economic policymakers begin discussing efforts to facilitate greater international trade and investment, such … Read more
From Stumbling Blocks to Building Blocs
With negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) nearing a conclusion, proponents of free trade are increasingly optimistic about the numerous trade and commercial opportunities this new pact—which would link 12 Pacific Rim countries in a free-trade bloc—will create. Other regional trade discussions, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the more aspirational Free … Read more
Ask the Experts: Trade is Back!
Antoni Estevadeordal answers: The June 2015 summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU) made clear that countries on both sides of the Atlantic are thinking of ways to revamp their increasingly stagnant political and economic ties. While Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) exports to the EU … Read more
The TPP: Almost There
It took more than five years, but the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is now near the finish line. Congressional passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) earlier this summer gave U.S. officials the mandate to conclude the TPP talks and revived procedures to expedite its ratification. The trade pact could be signed later this year. The TPP … Read more
Fast Track? Not So Fast
As his presidency nears a close, Barack Obama hopes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will be one of his key legacies. Despite his vocal skepticism about free trade agreements during his first campaign for the presidency, Obama now argues that the TPP, which aims to reduce barriers to trade among 12 countries bordering the Pacific (with … Read more
Mexico Goes Global
Given the lack of progress on global trade talks in recent years, the future of international trade likely depends on regional initiatives. Mexico is well-placed to be a standard bearer. Over the past two decades it has become a major global trading power, boasting a network of free-trade agreements with 44 countries. It is also … Read more
Sink or Float: Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance
Since the creation of the Pacific Alliance in April 2011, observers have often compared it to the older Mercosur (Southern Common Market). In a January 2014 Wall Street Journal article, David Luhnow likened the two trade blocs to “two Latin Americas”—one (Mercosur) comprising state-oriented countries and the other (the Pacific Alliance) characterized by an affinity … Read more
Trade Is Back!
Articles: Ask the Experts: Trade is Back! by Ann Lee, John Manley, Shihoko Goto and Antoni Estevadeordal How can Latin American economies better engage global trade partners as they recover from the end of the commodities boom? Full text available. Charticle: How We Trade in the Hemisphere by Barbara Kotschwar and Nicolas Albertoni For the … Read more
This Week in Latin America: Immunity in Guatemala—the Pope Visits—Pipeline Attacks in Colombia—Debt Crisis’ Wide Reach
Here’s a look at some of the stories we’ll be following this week: Corruption Scandals in Central America: Guatemala’s legislature will vote this week on whether to strip President Otto Pérez Molina of presidential immunity. The vote may open the door to prosecution as part of an ongoing corruption investigation involving the country’s customs authority … Read more
