The present article focuses on the FTAA framework and its implications on the economic disparities in the Hemisphere. In particular, it analyses the possibilities of satisfaction of the Latin American and Caribbean countries market-access objectives taking into consideration the current hemispheric negotiations. Its sections provide an overview of the contributions made to assert FTAA consequences for the small economies; an analysis of the tariff liberalization process from a fiscal point of view; and based on the finding that several non-tariff barriers used by the United States are likely to remain in operation after 2005, the last section draws on the significations of an uneven liberalization process in the Americas. In its ensemble, it seeks to substantiate the idea that FTAA entails a trade regime unable to serve as a source of equal distribution of economic benefits within the Western Hemisphere.
FTAA Framework; Latin American and Caribbean Countries; Hemispheric Negotiations; Tariff Liberalization Process
