[Ip-health] Reuters: Central American Nations Reach Trade Deal

[Mike Palmedo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8109-2003Dec17.html

Central American Nations Reach Trade Deal

By Doug Palmer
Reuters
Wednesday, December 17, 2003; 11:44 AM

The United States and four Central American nations have reached
agreement on a free-trade deal after a final marathon negotiating
session, a top Nicaraguan official said Wednesday.

Nicaraguan Minister of Industry and Trade Mario Arana told Reuters the
countries would hold a news conference at noon Wednesday to announce
details of the pact, setting the stage for what is expected to be a
tough battle in Congress to win approval of the pact.

"We will be informing everyone that we have concluded our negotiations
on very favorable terms for the region and also for the U.S.," Arana
said after a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and
other top trade officials from the region to close the deal.

The end of year-long negotiations between the United States, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

U.S. trade officials hope the U.S.-Central American Free Trade
Agreement, or CAFTA, will pave the way for the proposed Free Trade Area
of the Americas, which would cover every country in the Western
Hemisphere except Cuba.

U.S. labor unions have already said they would work hard to defeat the
Central American agreement on the grounds it will lead to more U.S. jobs
moving abroad.

Arana said the Bush administration indicated it would push for approval
of CAFTA in the first half of 2004. That would get the approval vote out
of the way well before U.S. presidential and congressional elections in
November.

"We understand they will submit it to Congress in March or April and
they will try to have it passed by early July," Arana said.

The United States had hoped to wrap up an agreement this week with five
Central American countries. But negotiations suffered a setback Tuesday
when Costa Rica said it would need at least one more round of
negotiations in January to complete its portion of the pact.

U.S. exports to the five Central American countries were projected to
reach $11.5 billion in 2003, or about the same as to Russia, India and
Indonesia combined.

The United States, which already has a free trade deal with neighbors
Canada and Mexico -- along with several other bilateral pacts -- has
been pushing for trade accords around the world as a way to boost
economic growth.

But critics say the Bush administration's trade policies have been
inconsistent and occasionally protectionist because of political
pressures from some affected industries at home.

Reflecting those sensitivities, CAFTA was expected to include only
minimal opportunities for the Central American countries to sell more
sugar and textiles to the United States.