Fiasco in Miami

It was as though US and Brazilian trade negotiators feared that if they spent one more minute in Miami, the fragile image of harmony they have struggled to project would shatter into a million pieces. Thus the thirty-four trade ministers gathered here for talks on a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas were hustled to a photo-op closing of their meeting on November 20, a day ahead of schedule.

The ministers' final declaration essentially lays out a road map for a free-trade nonagreement. Caving in to pressure from Brazil and other nations, US officials agreed to allow countries to pick and choose which parts of the final FTAA they will sign on to, in addition to some minimal, as yet undetermined, mandatory obligations.

If the reaction of the big-business community is any barometer, the new "FTAA à la carte" approach is good news for free-trade critics. Frank Vargo, a vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, complained that "this is not what we want and we have serious concerns." NAM members had been salivating over the prospect of an FTAA based on the North American Free Trade Agreement, which granted new protections for international investors and stripped the power of governments to impose conditions on foreign investment. But the hollowed-out FTAA approach agreed to in Miami will likely allow Brazil, South America's largest economy, to opt out of regulations that would weaken its ability to regulate foreign investors.

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