News & Insights

Statement by Bill Reinsch, President, National Foreign Trade Council

Washington DC – In the following statement, Bill Reinsch, President of the National Foreign Trade Council, called on the Western Hemisphere trade ministers to use the framework agreed upon at the conclusion of yesterday’s Miami meetings to move forward toward real progress on the Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005. 

“Establishing this framework for the FTAA gives ministers the leverage they need to move on with this agreement, which has the potential to greatly impact the economies of an entire hemisphere.  While the new agreement unfortunately appears to scale back some of the original goals of the FTAA, we hope that it will be sufficient to keep the negotiations going so that a more ambitious final agreement can be reached before the deadline in 2005.

“It is apparent, however, that all of us, including business, industry, and agriculture throughout the hemisphere, have a lot of work ahead of us if the FTAA is to fulfill its original promise.  The NFTC encourages the trade ministers to maintain their strong relationships with the private sector, as we believe business can play a key role in helping to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion and in ensuring that the final FTAA framework is economically viable.”

The National Foreign Trade Council is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves 400 member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.