FTAA Draft Published

July 6, 2001

The draft text of the nine chapters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas Agreement (FTAA) has been published, and officials say it will make the trade negotiation process more transparent and accessible. U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick called the publication of the FTAA draft text an "unprecedented effort to make international trade and its economic and social benefits more understandable to the public."

"This is an important step in an international trade negotiation – to make public at such an early stage the text under negotiation. Free trade within the Western Hemisphere will expand U.S. access to markets for American workers, consumers, farmers and businesses, and we believe that the availability of the text will increase public awareness of and support for the FTAA," said Zoellick.

The FTAA will help open Latin American and Caribbean markets to U.S. businesses and farmers by eliminating barriers to trade, investment, and services, and by reducing tariffs on U.S. exports which are much higher in these markets than those applied by the United States. It will create a single set of trade rules among 34 countries which currently abide by a maze of rules. It will increase competition in the hemisphere and bring greater choice to U.S. consumers, thereby lowering costs for U.S. working families.

U.S. access to Western Hemisphere markets will also be maintained by the FTAA. U.S. goods and services exports to Latin America are growing faster than they are to the rest of the world. Goods exports grew 137% to Latin America from 1990 to 2000 compared with 99% growth to the world; services exports increased 96% from 1990 to 2000 compared with 86% growth to the world.

The text is available on the official FTAA website at: http://www.ftaa-alca.org/ftaadraft/eng/draft_e.doc.