Publication

Since the 1990s, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have been a focus of United States trade policy, as demonstrated by the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the U.S.-Chile free trade agreement (FTA), and, more recently, the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). The Bush Administration has made bilateral and regional trade agreements important elements of U.S. trade policy. The United States currently is in the process of completing trade negotiations with Andean countries for an FTA and on reactivating talks for a U.S.-Panama FTA and a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).