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FTAA What are the main reasons why governments across the Americas are pushing for the free trade area?. Main reasons are explained in the Summit Of The Americas (December 1994) among all the reasons we can emphasize the idea of unifying efforts among all American countries (or most of them, Cuba is not included for example) in order to achieve a faster economic growth , lower inflation, expanded oportunities and confidence in participating in the global marketplace and to promote prosperity through increased economic integration and more open economies.
This agreement will contribute to raising living standars, to improving the working conditions of all people in the Americas and to better protecting the environment, and it will take into account diferences in the levels of development and size of the economies to create opportunities for the full participation of the smaller economies and to increase their level of development. What are the main reasons why the anti-FTAA group is protesting its implementation?
Anti-FTAA group says that this agreement extends accords that have already been adopted (FTA and NAFTA) from the extreme North of Canada to Tierra del Fuego, and NAFTA has had deadly consequences for Mexico and the wounds inflicted on workers in Canada and United States, so they claim that we can already see by this example several of the disastrous effects FTAA will have on Latin America. From their point of view Free Trade accords are the masterpieces of Globalization, in effect, they permit the deregulation and opening of markets by eliminating “barriers to trade” such as environmental protection and worker rights.
Moreover, these accords contribute to the privatization and commodification of all things, even essential services like health care and education, and with this phenomenon of globalization they aim to enrich the handful of new “masters of the world” namely financiers and big capitalists. In your opinion, is the FTAA likely to help raise the living standars for people in the smallest countries such as Ecuador or Nicaragua? Or Would it only be beneficial for the largest nations such as Brazil, Canada and US?
In my opinion the idea proposed by the heads of state and government of the american countries will bring prosperity into the poorest countries which have so much problem in opening trades with other countries because of all tariff and non-tariff barriers and which are likely to improve their economies with just a little boost. And the fact that larger countries will invest in them will let them to improve their level of development. We have a close example with the EU, when a new member has entered in the EU this has made a profit from the support given by others countries and from the free flow of workers into other countries.
But I have to say that this is just the theoretical point of view of the agreement, because when it becomes true in the real world everything can be different, and of course the agreement will be beneficial for the largest nations, actually after the initial increase in the smallest countries, the largest countries will take more advantage of the new situation, where they do not have to pay tariffs to export their products and they will be able to place new subsidiary in foreign countries with less costs and barriers than before.