FTAA (Free trade area of the Americas)
- 34 democracies of the Americas (except Cuba and Guiana)
- aims for the eventual elimination of trade tariffs between all participating countries.
- 9 FTAA negotiated groups: market access; investment; services; government procurement; dispute settlement; agriculture; intellectual property rights; subsidies, antidumping and countervailing duties
Brazil
- one of the most reluctant participants in the negotiations for the creation of FTAA
- the largest economy in South America, representing 40% of the region's GDP
- keen to protect its domestic market from the potential competition onslaught that would be unleashed by the abandoning on tariff barriers.
- government remains skeptical about the potential trade benefits
- whether or not to join FTAA ultimately depend on the willingness of the US to tackle the issue of non-tariff trade barriers, such as agricultural subsidies, that could otherwise annul the advantages for Brazil of joining the FTAA.
Brazil: Muriqui Hills
Members of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationa...
MEXICO LIFE- government also wants to maximize its bargaining power by strengthening relations with its partners in Mercosur, and by pressing forward with negotiations over a separate free trade deal with the EU.
Benefits
-Structural reforms that would increase the competitiveness of Brazilian products in the domestic and export markets
-It will link 825 million people, which is 15% of the world's population
-Broad-based trade liberalization can boost economic growth by stimulating investment and reallocating capital and create additional economic gains over the long term
-Improve the stability of the hemisphere and deepen the trade liberalization that is currently taking place
Costs
With an FTAA, the US and Canada will increase their agricultural market share in Brazil. If US/Brazil phytosanitary problems are resolved and given competitive transport costs to northeast Brazil, the US share of Brazil's imports would likely increase further.