Revitalizing the US Trade Agenda in Latin America: Building on the FTA Platform

The United States has invested heavily in the negotiation, approval and implementation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with 12 countries in the Americas. This existing FTA platform should be the starting point to build a more enduring economic engagement with the region, one that would enhance the market-based opportunities that have allowed for the creation of a middle class in Latin America. This group is essential not only to reduction in poverty and inequality but also to political stability and support for democracy. The FTA platform can and should be improved and revitalized through a new trade policy aimed at (i) extending the current platform by finalizing pending FTAs and providing for its potential expansion in the future, (ii) making the FTA platform fully operational, (iii) integrating all of the pieces of the FTA platform into a unified whole, (iv) expanding the universe of those who benefit from the FTA platform while minimizing transitional costs and (v) strengthening the foundations on which the FTA platform is based. Trade is a key component of the relationship with these countries. The Obama Administration must seize the opportunity to lead the revitalization of the US partnership with the region.