The United States actively is pursuing freer trade across the Americas, as evidenced by ongoing negotiations of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the U.S. - Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). With the passage of the Trade Act of 2002, Congress granted the Bush administration trade promotion authority (or "fast track"), while at the same time giving it precedent-setting instructions to negotiate trade agreements that meet environmental and labor objectives. As North and Latin American publics and policy makers struggle to understand what greater economic integration may bring, it is increasingly important to evaluate the repercussions of the existing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The perspectives below offer concrete recommendations on how to shape and implement free trade agreements that support environmental protection, respect for worker rights, and more equitable development in the Americas.

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COMING SOON! Perspectives on CAFTA by Carnegie's John Audley and Sandra Polaski.

NEW! Members of an Organization of American States (OAS) expert consortium report on their efforts to promote Environmentally Sustainable Trade within the FTAA context.

Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Mary Ryckman and Dr. José Manuel Salazar of the Organization of American States (OAS) join Carnegie Senior Associate John Audley to discuss the newly launched "FTAA Hemispheric Cooperation Program."

Carlos Murillo, Director of Studies at the International Center for Political Economy in Costa Rica, and Carnegie Senior Associate John Audley visit the Hill following the FTAA Quito Ministerial to brief staffers on the "FTAA Negotiations: Implications for Trade and Environment."

Carnegie co-sponsors "Toward Civil Society Participation in the Americas", a series of civil society workshops on trade and environment held in Quito, Ecuador during the the VII Ministerial Conference of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Read the participants' consensus statement and recommendations to the trade ministers.