FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS: Negotiations at Key Juncture on Eve of April Meetings

摘要

The negotiations toward establishing a Free Trade Area of the Americas, which would eliminate tariffs and create common trade and investment rules within the 34 democratic nations of the Western Hemisphere, are among the most significant ongoing multilateral trade negotiations for the United States. Two meetings in April 2001 offer opportunities to inject momentum and set an ambitious pace for the next, more difficult phase of the negotiations to come. The first is the meeting of the trade ministers of the 34 countries participating in the negotiations in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 7. The second is the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada, on April 20-22.