Trade Rules in the Making

A Brookings Institution Press and The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States publication In April 1998 negotiations were launched to create a free trade area among thirty-four countries in the Western Hemisphere. The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) will eliminate barriers to trade in goods and services and will remove restrictions on investment among the countries of North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. At the same time, negotiators in the World Trade O