Summary: Trade between the United States and the eighteen countries of the Middle East and North Africa continues to grow at a steady pace, especially with countries which have signed trade agreements with the United States.

In this conference volume, distinguished economists and trade policymakers address the US initiatives to enter into free trade negotiations with a broad range of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the Western Hemisphere, and Africa. The sheer number of these initiatives is unprecedented and has provoked major policy questions concerning US interests in the negotiations, the setting of priorities among the many contenders for concluding free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United States, the objectives of those trading partners, and the implications that these agreements could have for broader initiatives such as the Doha Round in the World Trade Organization and the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The papers in the volume were presented during a conference on FTAs and US trade policy, sponsored by the Institute in May 2003. The editor, Jeffrey Schott, summarizes the policy implications drawn from the conference papers and discussions, which are organized around several topics: the conceptual case for FTAs and how they have worked in the past; what FTAs imply for the broader global system; the specific agreements that are already being pursued (Australia, Central America, Morocco, southern Africa) or considered (ASEAN, Brazil, Egypt, Korea, and Taiwan). The volume includes a technical appendix with results of GTAP and gravity model simulations of the trade and welfare effects of the prospective agreements.

Considers the economic and political characteristics of Egypt as a potential FTA partner. This book examines the benefits and challenges in pursuing bilateral negotiations with Egypt, examines the Bush proposal for a regional arrangement, and assesses the impact of a prospective FTA on other trading partners and on the multilateral trading system.

In one complete, easy-to-use source, you will receive coverage of the rapidly changing rules governing trade in North America, making it easy for you to locate the information you need to be in compliance with any North American Free Trade Agreement...and to take advantage of the allowances. These looseleaf volumes provide comprehensive information on all new trading agreements and explain, among other topics, what NAFTA covers and how its decisions are rendered; how the new free trade agreements are being negotiated and what the policy positions are; and what government officials and practitioners are saying about these arguments.

Based on a conference jointly sponsored by the Institute of Public Policy Studies at the University of Michigan and the Centre for the Study of International Economic Relations at the University of Western Ontario.