Between January 2004 and February 2005, the World Trade Organization (WTO) received notifications of 43 new RTAs, making it the most productive RTA period in recorded history. (5) A WTO working document of May 2005 indicated that the total number of RTAs in force worldwide was 170, with a further 20 RTAs to enter into force pending national ratification and a further 70 being under negotiation or review. ACR`s activities have intensified in all regions of the world “particularly in the Western Hemisphere and the Asia-Pacific region”. (6) The first summit of the South American international community was held in Brasilia on 30 September 2005. The majority of heads of state from South American countries attended the summit. Despite Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez`s efforts to replace the proposed structure of the CSN with his own proposal, summit representatives decided to advance what their foreign ministers had already developed in preparatory meetings. They supported the idea of merging Mercosur and CAN to turn all of South America into a free trade area. One of the outcomes of the summit was to call on the secretariats of all existing integration mechanisms to prepare studies on the convergence of trade agreements among South American countries by mid-2006 at the latest. (61) It is likely certain that NAFTA will devote at least part of the revenue necessary to double the actual trade between its signatories. Unfortunately, this is where the simple assessments of the impact of the agreement end. The 6. In June 2003, the United States and Chile signed the United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement in Miami, Florida.
On September 3, 2003, President George W. Bush signed the law (P.L. 108-77) and the agreement entered into force on January 1, 2004. The free trade agreement with Chile is the first U.S. agreement with a South American country, and at the time of its adoption it was expected to prove to be a step forward in completing the FTAA. (24) The Mercosur countries have also not coordinated their trade policies towards third countries. In 2011, Brazil unilaterally imposed anti-dumping restrictions on steel imports from China. “Politically negotiated exceptions to the bloc`s rules have become the norm,” The Economist wrote.
In Brazil alone, there are a hundred exceptions to separate customs codes from Mercosur`s common external tariffs, and the four countries rarely challenge each other to get rid of these fallout. This has limited Mercosur`s ability to become a genuine common market or catalyst for trade liberalization, despite its noble goals. Just as often, Mercosur has affected members` ambitions to conclude free trade agreements with countries outside Latin America. Another set of rules concerns the “enabling clause”, the 1979 decision on differential and more favourable treatment, reciprocity and wider participation of developing countries. These rules apply to preferential trade arrangements in trade in goods between developing countries that are members of them and allow developing countries to establish preferential trade agreements without the conditions provided for in Article XXIV. (15) The objectives of NAFTA are to eliminate barriers to trade, facilitate the cross-border movement of goods and services between countries, promote fair competition in the free trade area, increase investment opportunities and ensure effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. NAFTA is complemented by two other sub-agreements on environmental and labour standards. The trade liberalization programme was implemented on time or sooner.
More than 90% of the goods are currently duty-free. (20) Regional integration also has political implications for the United States. Some observers see this as the impetus given to trade liberalization both politically and economically. There are several issues that policymakers could consider. To what extent do trade integration agreements promote political stability in a country? Are they a useful tool for building a more democratic, secure and prosperous region? The TPL expires in June 2007 and the renewal of the Trade Act is uncertain. All trade agreements under negotiation by the United States must be concluded before this deadline in order to obtain expedited procedures under the APT. After the expiry of the atpa for months, ATPDEA (Title XXXI of P.L. 107-210) entered into force on 6 August 2002. ATPDEA has re-approved the atPA preference program and expanded trade preferences to include other products that have been excluded under the ATPA. ATPDEA also authorized the President to grant duty-free treatment to U.S. imports of certain garments if the items complied with national content rules.
AtpDEA accounted for about half of all U.S. imports from the four countries in 2003. Duty-free services under ATPDEA will end on 31 December 2006. Trade preferences with Andean countries may not be extended. A free trade agreement with the United States would establish these preferences and additional duty-free treatment. Mercosur was founded in 1991 when Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay signed the Treaty of Asuncion [PDF], an agreement calling for the “free movement of goods, services and factors of production between countries.” The four countries agreed to abolish tariffs, introduce a common external tariff of 35% on certain imports from outside the bloc and pursue a common commercial policy towards third countries and blocs. The founding members hoped to create a common market similar to that of the European Union and were even considering introducing a common currency. Proponents sometimes cite oil exports as evidence that NAFTA has helped Canada. .
