During the intense congressional fight over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), NAFTA's supporters promised that the pact would lead to more U.S. jobs and improved economic conditions. On the other hand, the NAFTA opponents contended that the NAFTA would facilitate factory flight to Mexico. Whether or not the NAFTA was a political success with the American public, it is indisputable that since its implementation on January 1, 1994, there has been a remarkable increase in trade among the three member countries of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

A somewhat unexpected benefit of the NAFTA was the realization by non-NAFTA countries in The Americas of the necessity to adopt economic liberalization measures, and actively pursue bilateral and multilateral trade agreements with their international trading partners. As announced at the celebrated Summit of the Americas held in Miami, Florida, in December 1994, the leaders of all of the five countries of the Americas declared in a formal Plan of Action "to begin immediately to construct the Free Trade Area of The Americas."

Not to be left out of the benefits of free trade, countries in The Americas have created, or are in the process of creating, numerous regional and sub-regional agreements on trade and trade related matters. One of the more recent proposed trade agreements, but less well known, is that between the Caribbean community (Caricom) and the country of Chile.

In January 1995, Caricom and Chile signed a joint declaration hailing strides made following a meeting in Santiago, Chile, among Caricom ministers of foreign affairs and Chilean officials. As stated by Edmundo Vargas Carreno, Permanent Representative of Chile to the Organization of American States (OAS), "The agreements reached during the visit by Caricom foreign ministers to our country bring about a major political rapprochement, open important opportunities in the areas of the trade and economic relations and bring our peoples closer through cultural and scientific exchanges." Since the date of the joint declaration, there have been many cultural exchanges, investment seminars, and private sector missions between the two areas.

The Declaration was to prepare a preliminary study that would analyze the prospect for a free trade agreement. Nevertheless, since January 1995, both Chile and Caricom international trade statistics reflect continued increased trade, including with each other. According to the President of Chile's Central Bank, the fallout from Mexico's financial collapse earlier this year left practically no long-term effect on Chile's economy. In 1996, Chile should repeat its robust economic growth of 6%, and keep inflation relatively low at about 6.5%.

The progress of the Caricom/Chile agreement is slow, but steady. The level of trade between the areas is also relatively low, but growing. The Caricom members have a great need to obtain favorable trade agreements with other countries in The Americas because they are concerned about losing their ability to compete with another low cost labor area, Mexico, since the NAFTA. This is especially so since the announcement on September 12, 1995, that H.R. 553 (Caribbean Basin Trade Security Act), a bill that would have provided Caricom members with trade benefits equivalent to Mexico, would not be considered by Congress this term. Similarly, it is unpredictable when a Caricom/Chile trade agreement will be finalized and implemented.

In recent years, Chile has been extremely active in pursuing bilateral trade agreements, including with Mexico (January 1, 1992), Venezuela (July 1, 1993), Colombia (January 1, 1994), and Ecuador (January 1, 1995). Negotiations are in progress for Chile to renegotiate a bilateral trade agreement with Peru. Chile is very interested in joining, or as it is more technically known, "accede" to the NAFTA on an equal basis as the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Unfortunately, the Republican-controlled Congress has not yet given the Democratic Clinton Administration "fast track negotiating authority" to have Chile accede to the NAFTA. Without such authority, the U.S. Trade Representative's Office has no authority to bind the U.S. to any kind of trade agreement with Chile. Nevertheless, negotiations continue, and most experts in the field of international trade consider the accession of Chile to be just a matter of time. Canadian, Mexican, U.S., and Chilean negotiators met most recently at the end of September in Mexico to facilitate the process.

Chile will be only the first country to accede to the NAFTA. As stated by Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, "All of Latin America, all of the Western Hemisphere countries need to all be part of a free trade zone. Chile should be added to NAFTA, and additions should proceed step by step beyond that." In other words, after Chile accedes to the NAFTA, the ultimate objective is the creation of a Free Trade Area of The Americas (FTAA).

The Organization of American States (OAS) has been intimately involved in hastening the creation and/or revitalization of many regional economic and trade-related agreements such as Caricom. These agreements provide for preferential tariff elimination for about 95% of imported merchandise in those areas by the year 2004.

A meeting of the OAS's Special Committee on Trade was held in Montevideo, Uruguay, on June 14-15, 1995. The result of the meeting was a report entitled Toward Free Trade in the Americas. The report concluded that regional agreements constitute the building blocks for economic multilateralism throughout The Americas. The mid-1980's and early 1990's brought sweeping economic reforms and trade liberalization based on an outward looking and market-oriented strategy. The report continued that the establishment of a hemispheric free trade area is not without serious challenges and difficulties, yet countries will continue to pursue their self interests by attempting to do so. Otherwise, every country not cooperating closely with its trading partners will be at a distinct disadvantage.

The Trade Ministers of the countries that attended The Summit of the Americas met again in Denver, Colorado, on June 30, 1995, and issued an "Interim Report of the OAS Special Committee on Trade in the Western Hemisphere." The Report concluded that integration of the economics of the countries of The Americas was possible, and it set forth specific economic integration measures that had previously caused great difficulty with the NAFTA, including telecommunications services, transportation services, financial services, investments, intellectual property rights, and competition policy.

Increased cross-border trade is good news for importers, exporters, ocean carriers, customshouse brokers, international freight forwarders, and other members of the international trade community, and the general consumer. A March 1996 meeting of the Trade Ministers of The Americas will take place to discuss, amend, and adopt what may be the final report on the FTAA. The 1994 Summit of The Americas leaders challenged the countries of The Americas to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas in ten years (2004). It just might happen.