U.S. Enterprise for the Americas Initiative. Support for Western Hemisphere Economic and Trade Reform

摘要

Western Hemisphere countries are seeking trade liberalization that may eventually lead to a hemispheric free trade zone. The Enterprise for the Americas Initiative (EAI) is a U.S. program supporting economic and trade reform underway in Latin America and the Caribbean. The initiative's objectives are to promote liberalized trade, reduce official debt, and increase foreign investment in the Latin American and Caribbean countries. These countries have renewed regional agreements and have taken new steps toward stabilizing their domestic economies. No longer following protectionist import-substitution policies, regional and subregional groups of countries are promoting unilateral reductions in trade barriers and greater international interaction by their members.