Latest Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement Stories

By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab announced on Friday a new chief counsel for China trade enforcement and the creation of new office to focus on protection of intellectual property rights, actions aimed at easing concerns about trade in Congress. "This is another step forward to ensure the United States is active and aggressive in the enforcement of our rights under trade agreements, an area that is of significant interest to the United...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States could bring a World Trade Organization case against China in the next few months if Beijing does not respond to concerns the United States has raised about its protection of intellectual property rights, a U.S. official said on Wednesday Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Tim Stratford told the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that Bush administration discussions of a case against China for copyright piracy were at a very...

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemala moved closer to implementing a stalled regional free trade deal with the United States on Thursday after its Congress approved laws Washington had cited as a prerequisite for joining the pact. Congress modified 16 laws on issues ranging from animal health to intellectual property. Guatemala should join the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, once Washington approve the changes. "The U.S. Trade Representative has to review what was...

By John McPhaul SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - Twenty years after first taking office, Nobel laureate Oscar Arias was sworn in again as Costa Rica's president on Monday in a nation divided over free trade with the United States. Arias, who won re-election in February by a razor-thin margin, backs the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, which Costa Rica's Congress has opposed. Costa Rica is the only signatory not to ratify the pact, an important element of...

By John McPhaul SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - Nobel laureate Oscar Arias begins a second stint as president of Costa Rica on Monday, taking power in a nation divided over free trade with the United States and widely seen as rudderless. Dignitaries from around the world, including former Polish President Lech Walesa, another Nobel Peace Prize winner, arrived over the weekend and met with the president-elect. U.S. First Lady Laura Bush was expected to attend Monday's ceremony. Arias...

By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Peru signed a free trade agreement on Wednesday, setting the stage for a potentially tough fight in Congress unless the Bush administration offers Democrats stronger assurances that Lima will abide by international labor standards. "This agreement with Peru is instrumental in our strategy to advance prosperity within our hemisphere," U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said in a statement. "We look forward to continuing to...

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - A controversial trade pact between the United States and Central American nations took effect in Honduras and Nicaragua on Saturday as supporters said it would help bring prosperity to the poor region. The U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA, will give smaller businesses access to international markets, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya told a news conference where he was joined by U.S. Ambassador Charles Ford. "We will strengthen...

By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. labor groups, which have been unable to block any free-trade agreement since President George W. Bush took office five years ago, still hope to defeat pacts this year with Oman, Peru and Colombia. "We think we have a real shot at it," said Thea Lee, policy director for the AFL-CIO said on Friday. "We are planning a major battle." A lot of things have changed since 2005, when the House of Representatives narrowly approved the U.S.-Central...

By John McPhaulSAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - Costa Rica's president-elect vowed on Tuesday to get a free trade pact with the United States through Congress despite barely winning last month's election and failing to get a legislative majority.Speaking shortly after he was formally declared the winner of the February 5 vote, Oscar Arias told opponents of the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, he would not back down to promised street protests."You should not have the...

By John McPhaul SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - The opponent of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias conceded defeat on Friday in Costa Rica's presidential election after weeks of bickering following an extremely close vote count. Otton Solis of the Citizen Action Party conceded that Arias, president of Costa Rica in the late 1980s, had won the February 5 election. Solis had challenged results giving Arias a narrow victory but gave up the fight after electoral authorities rejected...