The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) would reduce trade barriers with the five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic that together compose America’s second-largest export market in the Western Hemisphere. Opponents of the agreement charge that it would threaten the U.S. textile and sugar industries and that it does not protect worker rights in what are relatively poor countries.

Supporters of trade liberalization counter that CAFTA would promote trade and raise living standards in neighboring countries where we have a strong foreign policy interest. They argue that CAFTA would consolidate the economic, social, and political progress achieved in a region that was in turmoil in the 1980s but has now turned to democracy. Please join our experts for a discussion of their recent study on CAFTA.