International trade expert James Bacchus discusses AS/COA’s new Trade Advisory Group report and the need for the Obama administration “to come forward with some evidence that the United States is willing to work on a hemispheric basis.”
In a Miami Herald op-ed, COA's Eric Farnsworth examines the U.S.-Panamanian relationship since 1989. "[T]he United States and Panama have gone from hostility and military action to development spurred by globalization and trade," he writes.
Over the past year, Congress made headway in working with Latin America on trade, security, and energy. Looking ahead, 2009 holds great potential for advancing key hemispheric issues.
At an event co-hosted by AS/COA and the Asia Society, panelists discussed deepening Sino-Latin America trade and political relations, as well as how the financial crisis could affect ties.
Professor and columnist Rosanna Fuentes Berain encourages the incoming U.S. administration to steer the country’s economy into safer waters, given its direct impact on Latin American markets.
AS/COA looks at the rise in Trans-Pacific cooperation, which was recently reaffirmed by the APEC leaders meeting in Lima. China—a new donor member of the Inter-American Development Bank—continues to ramp up trade ties through deals with Peru and Costa Rica.
Facing a global financial crisis, 21 leaders met in Lima to caution against protectionism and call for resumption of the Doha Round of trade talks. The APEC summit also served as U.S. President George W. Bush's last scheduled trip abroad, where he pressed for “free markets, free trade, and free people.”
