{
  "id": "96-541",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "96-541",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 103378,
      "date": "2002-06-24",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:08:08.248941",
      "title": "Western Hemisphere Trade Developments",
      "summary": "The countries of the Western Hemisphere constitute the largest regional market for U.S. exports\nand\nthe second largest regional market for U.S. foreign direct investments. The growing importance of\nthis region to U.S. economic interests has been complemented by the growth of sub-regional\nintegration initiatives such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mercosur, the\nAndean Community, the Central American Common Market, and Caribbean Community. These\ngroupings have not only established free trade areas and in some cases customs unions among\npartner countries, but are also expanding trade and investment ties with other countries and regions\nin the hemisphere, as well as more tentatively with the European Union. Concurrent with the\ndeepening and expansion of these sub-regional groupings have been efforts to create a Free Trade\nArea of the Americas (FTAA). While FTAA negotiations formally commenced in September 1998,\nthe deadline for completion is not until 2005. If the FTAA negotiations were to lose momentum,\nhemispheric integration could come to be dominated by the proliferation of sub-regional groupings. \nThis development, in turn, could have varying impacts on U.S. interests.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/96-541",
          "sha1": "1b2a2b7f900267d129f22e59f4c679824b72f2c5",
          "filename": "files/20020624_96-541_1b2a2b7f900267d129f22e59f4c679824b72f2c5.pdf",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20020624_96-541_1b2a2b7f900267d129f22e59f4c679824b72f2c5.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs"
  ]
}