Free-Trade Agreement Activity Heats Up
The free-trade winds are starting to blow a little stronger now that retail sales around the world are improving.
The European Union on Tuesday agreed to a free-trade agreement with Central America that probably will go into effect some time later in the year at the earliest.
The agreement—which involves Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama—will do away with tariffs on a number of goods exchanged between the two regions. Europe will be able to export its cars to Central America free of tariffs for a 10-year period.
Trade between the two regions totaled $12 billion in 2009 but will probably rise after the free-trade agreement begins.
Meanwhile, interest in the United States implementing free-trade pacts with Colombia and Panama is heating up. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk recently said the Obama administration is committed to getting Congress to pass those two free accords that were signed by the Bush administration.
At the Council of the Americas’ annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on May 12, Clinton said she saw a few political challenges in getting the trade pacts passed quickly, but Colombia and Panama are working on new steps to win over Congress.—Deborah Belgum
