Abstract
Recent years have witnessed a series of initiatives to expand and enhance economic integration across North America.1 This chapter reviews the most important of these integration efforts, including the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas; the North American Free Trade Agreement; the Dominican Republic – Central America – United States Free Trade Agreement; the Central American Common Market; the CARICOM Single Market; and efforts to create an Economic Union under the auspices of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. In each instance, I provide a brief overview of the agreement; describe recent political, economic and legal developments; and review dispute settlement activity. A brief conclusion follows.
I am grateful for superb research assistance from Harvard Law School students Matt Sullivan, Evgeniya Rubinina, and Davida Cannon.
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Notes
- 1.
For current purposes, I follow convention, and include Central America and the Caribbean as part of North America.
- 2.
A more detailed discussion of FTAA negotiations can be found on the FTAA website at http://www.ftaa-alca.org. Additional analysis can be found in Gabriele Tondl’s report on regional integration in South America in this volume.
- 3.
See generally Schott, Prospects for Free Trade in the Americas, 2001; Schott, Does the FTAA Have a Future? Institute for International Economics (November 2005).
- 4.
Schott, Does the FTAA Have a Future? Institute for International Economics (November 2005).
- 5.
For an authoritative account of NAFTA politics from the start of negotiations through the implementation of treaty obligations, see Mayer, Interpreting NAFTA: The Science and Art of Political Analysis, 1998.
- 6.
“NAFTA – Myth vs. Facts,” USTR fact sheet, March 2008, available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Trade_Agreements/Regional/NAFTA/Fact_Sheets/asset_upload_file202_14592.pdf.
- 7.
See, e.g., Debunking USTR Claims in Defense of NAFTA: The Real NAFTA Score 2008, Public Citizen report, available at http://www.citizen.org/documents/NAFTA_USTR_Debunk_web.pdf.
- 8.
See Joint Statement of President Bush, President Calderon, Prime Minister Harper, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/04/20080422-4.html.
- 9.
In January 2009 Gov. Richardson withdrew his name from nomination in light of a federal investigation of one of his political donors.
- 10.
Documents related to chapter 11 claims filed against Canada can be found on the Foreign Affairs and International Trade website at http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/disp-diff/gov.aspx?lang=en. Documents related to chapter 11 claims filed against the United States can be found on the State Department’s website at http://www.state.gov/s/l/c3741.htm. Documents related to chapter 11 claims filed against Mexico can be found on the Ministry of the Economy’s website at http://www.economia.gob.mx/?P=5500.
- 11.
Request for Consultations, WT/DS386/1, United States – Certain Country of Origin Labelling Requirements (December 22, 2008) (Mexican request for consultations); Request for Consultations, WT/DS384/1, United States – Certain Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) Requirements (December 4, 2008) (Canadian request for consultations).
- 12.
Request for Consultations, WT/DS381/1, United States – Measures Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale of Tuna and Tuna Products (October 28, 2008).
- 13.
WTO Appellate Body, WT/DS344/AB/R, United States – Final Anti-dumping Measures on Stainless Steel from Mexico (April 30, 2008).
- 14.
WTO Article 21.3(c) Arbitral Panel, WT/DS344/15, United States – Final Anti-Dumping Measures on Stainless Steel from Mexico (Oct. 31, 2008) (arbitration under article 21.3(c) of the DSU).
- 15.
For an introduction to and analysis of this dispute, see Dunoff, The Many Dimensions of Softwood Lumber, available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1013609.
- 16.
See USTR Disappointed with Tribunal’s Mixed Decision on Softwood Lumber, USTR press release, Mar. 4, 2008, available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2008/March/asset_upload_file97_14550.pdf.
- 17.
See H.R. 6630 (110th Congress 2008); see also Snider, Transportation: House Votes to End Mexican Truck Program as Administration Threatens to Veto Measure, BNA Int’l Trade Rep. 25 (2008), p. 1350.
- 18.
Brevetti, Regional Agreements: DOL Initiates Investigation of CAFTA-DR Complaint by AFL-CIO, Guatemala Unions, BNA Int’l Trade Rep. 25 (2008), p. 1105.
- 19.
General Treaty on the Central American Economic Integration, Dec. 13, 1960, http://www.sice.oas.org/trade/camertoc.asp.
- 20.
Information on disputes submitted to the CACM can be found on the Integrated Database of Trade Disputes for Latin America and the Caribbean at http://idatd.eclac.cl/controversias/mcca.htm?perform=buscar.
- 21.
The 2001 Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas Establishing the Caribbean Community Including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, Art. 222.
- 22.
The 2001 Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas Establishing the Caribbean Community Including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, Art. 214.
- 23.
The 2001 Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas Establishing the Caribbean Community Including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, Art. 188–210.
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Dunoff, J.L. (2010). North American Regional Economic Integration: Recent Trends and Developments. In: Herrmann, C., Terhechte, J.P. (eds) European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2010. European Yearbook of International Economic Law, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-78883-6_13
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