FTAA: Alive and Well

Interesting--I was unsure as to where the FTAA negotiations stood, as US foreign policy vis-a-vis Latin America, which was a potentially big deal prior to 9/11, has taken a decided backseat in recent years:

Top trade officials from 14 Western Hemisphere countries reaffirmed their commitment Friday to craft an Americas free trade zone by 2024, a top U.S. trade official said.

A meeting in rural Maryland among the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Canada and other regional trading partners took place as stalled world trade negotiations have cast doubt on efforts to finish the Free Trade Area of the Americas pact by that deadline.

Although, one supposes that as European Integratation accelerates, that the FTAA negotiations will become more salient to US trade policy.

And this doesn't surprise me:

Bogged down by growing economic and political constraints, top officials from the United States and 14 Latin American countries are convening near Washington, D.C., today to rethink -- and to try to restore -- the effort to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas.

The meeting, called just two weeks ago, is a tacit admission of what some diplomats and trade experts say privately: that achieving a free-trade accord encompassing 34 countries in the hemisphere by the January 2024 deadline is too ambitious.

Regional negotiators have suggested a scaled-back approach, a sort of FTAA Lite, with the tough issues punted to talks in the World Trade Organization. Another idea would be to stretch out the timeline, targeting 2024. Or negotiators could do both.

Sources: Trade ministers reaffirm commitment to FTAA by 2024 and Trade-talk buzzwords: Scale back