Issues, effects and implications of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Agreement for CARICOM economies

The objective of this document is to analyse some of the main issues, effects and implications of the FTAA for Caribbean Community (CARICOM) economies. It also considers when relevant and for comparison purposes the cases of non-independent States. The document is divided into seven sections. Following the introduction, the second section describes, albeit briefly, the main issues that are found in the Free Trade Areas literature. The third section introduces the FTAA participants highlighting their economic and social disparities. The fourth section centers on the FTAA underlying principles as stated in the most important legal texts. The fifth section focuses on the institutional and economic context of CARICOM. This section describes the state of progress in the creation of the Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the main traits on intraregional trade. The sixth section examines the extraregional performance of CARICOM in goods and services in relation to FTTA trade partners. The seventh section analyses the potential effects of tariff reductions focusing on price and government revenue effects. The final reflections are found in the conclusion.