{ "id": "RL31356", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL31356", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 428448, "date": "2014-02-26", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T23:05:50.346676", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": "Free trade areas (FTAs) are arrangements among two or more countries under which they agree to eliminate tariffs and nontariff barriers on trade in goods among themselves. However, each country maintains its own policies, including tariffs, on trade outside the region.\nIn the last few years, the United States has engaged or has proposed to engage in negotiations to establish bilateral and regional free trade arrangements with a number of trading partners. Such arrangements are not new in U.S. trade policy. The United States has had a free trade arrangement with Israel since 1985 and with Canada since 1989, which was expanded to include Mexico and became the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) effective in January 1994.\nU.S. interest in bilateral and regional free trade arrangements surged, and the Bush Administration accelerated the pace of negotiations after the enactment of the Trade Promotion Authority in August 2002. U.S. participation in free trade agreements can occur only with the concurrence of Congress. In addition, FTAs affect the U.S. economy, with the impact varying across sectors.\nThe 112th Congress and the Obama Administration faced the question of whether and when to act on three FTAs pending from the Bush Administration\u2014with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. Although the Bush Administration signed these agreements, it and the leaders of the 110th Congress could not reach agreement on proceeding to enact them. No action was taken during the 111th Congress either. \nAfter discussion with congressional leaders and negotiations with the governments of Colombia, Panama, and South Korea to assuage congressional concerns regarding treatment of union officials (Colombia), taxation regimes (Panama), and trade in autos (South Korea), President Obama submitted draft implementing legislation to Congress on October 3, 2011. The 112th Congress approved each of the bills in successive votes on October 12, along with legislation to renew an aspect of the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program. President Obama signed the bills into law on October 21, 2011.\nIn the meantime, on November 14, 2009, President Obama committed to work with the current and prospective partners in the negotiations to form a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. The TPP is a free trade agreement that includes nations on both sides of the Pacific. The TPP negotiations emerged from an FTA that included Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore and that entered into force in 2006. Besides the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, and Vietnam have joined the negotiations. Furthermore, the United States has been negotiating with the 28-member European Union to form the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).\nFTAs raise some important policy issues: Do FTAs serve or impede U.S. long-term national interests and trade policy objectives? Which type of an FTA arrangement meets U.S. national interests? What should U.S. criteria be in choosing FTA partners? Are FTAs a substitute for or a complement to U.S. commitments and interests in promoting a multilateral trading system via the World Trade Organization (WTO)? What effect will the expiration of TPA have on the future of FTAs as a trade policy strategy?", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL31356", "sha1": "90d4b5d943641aeb95246d151c2bc0d8af7a7c29", "filename": "files/20140226_RL31356_90d4b5d943641aeb95246d151c2bc0d8af7a7c29.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL31356", "sha1": "1981115740a9ac525b1b2d7466ec52b66b65d1c7", "filename": "files/20140226_RL31356_1981115740a9ac525b1b2d7466ec52b66b65d1c7.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc93961/", "id": "RL31356_2012Jun18", "date": "2012-06-18", "retrieved": "2012-07-24T12:39:36", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": "This report looks at how free trade areas (FTAs) affect U.S. trade in regards to trade policy, specifically tariffs. It looks closely at the Bush Administration's Trade Promotion Policy, and pending FTAs leftover from this administration. Additionally, it looks at the Obama Administration's work in the prospective Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP).", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20120618_RL31356_94511a523206eb50ab31a4edbb02e0eecc920f18.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20120618_RL31356_94511a523206eb50ab31a4edbb02e0eecc920f18.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade", "name": "Trade" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign trade policy", "name": "Foreign trade policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Free trade", "name": "Free trade" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc814285/", "id": "RL31356_2011Dec01", "date": "2011-12-01", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20111201_RL31356_c2260d97b00a720676f1fe05ebb268ea7e754c4b.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20111201_RL31356_c2260d97b00a720676f1fe05ebb268ea7e754c4b.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc491373/", "id": "RL31356_2011Jan06", "date": "2011-01-06", "retrieved": "2015-01-27T19:40:46", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": "This report will monitor pending and possible proposals for U.S. free trade areas (FTAs), relevant legislation and other congressional interest in U.S. FTAs.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20110106_RL31356_df09588afb0e2bab1b4618a11ec77aa9e8332d91.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20110106_RL31356_df09588afb0e2bab1b4618a11ec77aa9e8332d91.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade", "name": "Trade" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Free trade", "name": "Free trade" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign trade policy", "name": "Foreign trade policy" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc503531/", "id": "RL31356_2010Feb23", "date": "2010-02-23", "retrieved": "2015-04-30T17:37:21", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": "This report provides background on free trade areas (FTAs) -- arrangements among two or more countries under which they agree to eliminate tariffs and nontariff barriers on trade in goods among themselves -- why countries form them, and how they relate to U.S. trade policy. It also discusses recent developments, the economic impact of FTAs, the relation of FTAs to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and debate points, as well as general conclusions and implications for Congress.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20100223_RL31356_8a3908ec938c876a16eb38ceb29b7b7417ca1df7.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20100223_RL31356_8a3908ec938c876a16eb38ceb29b7b7417ca1df7.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade", "name": "Trade" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Free trade", "name": "Free trade" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign trade policy", "name": "Foreign trade policy" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc818177/", "id": "RL31356_2009Jan13", "date": "2009-01-13", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20090113_RL31356_ae51271b9ef139b477debd051dc3a184ea9f45e6.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20090113_RL31356_ae51271b9ef139b477debd051dc3a184ea9f45e6.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc808569/", "id": "RL31356_2007Jul10", "date": "2007-07-10", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20070710_RL31356_7deb9023804b877e0bc4d8355a6322e6af89cf69.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20070710_RL31356_7deb9023804b877e0bc4d8355a6322e6af89cf69.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs9334/", "id": "RL31356_2006Aug01", "date": "2006-08-01", "retrieved": "2006-12-05T09:26:23", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": "In the last few years, the United States has considered bilateral and regional free\r\ntrade areas (FTAs) with a number of trading partners. Such arrangements are not\r\nnew in U.S. trade policy. The United States has had a free trade arrangement with\r\nIsrael since 1985 and with Canada since1989. The latter was suspended when the\r\nNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that included the United States,\r\nCanada, and Mexico, went into effect in January 1994. This report monitors pending and possible proposals for U.S. FTAs, relevant\r\nlegislation and other congressional interest in U.S. FTAs.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20060801_RL31356_7e0fada3dedbc81368d106a7c271b46d8bef87af.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20060801_RL31356_7e0fada3dedbc81368d106a7c271b46d8bef87af.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": null, "id": "Trade", "name": "Trade" }, { "source": null, "id": "Foreign trade policy", "name": "Foreign trade policy" }, { "source": null, "id": "Free trade", "name": "Free trade" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc811578/", "id": "RL31356_2006Apr19", "date": "2006-04-19", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20060419_RL31356_cbe62ba36f8397e84d745b958932941a879d400f.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20060419_RL31356_cbe62ba36f8397e84d745b958932941a879d400f.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc807163/", "id": "RL31356_2005Dec06", "date": "2005-12-06", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20051206_RL31356_139d51fb4b6883f8997706724386af449b6ad4e2.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20051206_RL31356_139d51fb4b6883f8997706724386af449b6ad4e2.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc817246/", "id": "RL31356_2005Jun24", "date": "2005-06-24", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20050624_RL31356_de4bb9294c29f62fcec0fbbae2fffe934566d651.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20050624_RL31356_de4bb9294c29f62fcec0fbbae2fffe934566d651.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6459/", "id": "RL31356 2005-01-12", "date": "2005-01-12", "retrieved": "2005-07-25T17:23:00", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20050112_RL31356_7ff70b65dd589c0e92dc6a6f99919164f5d7a705.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20050112_RL31356_7ff70b65dd589c0e92dc6a6f99919164f5d7a705.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade", "name": "Trade" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign trade policy - U.S.", "name": "Foreign trade policy - U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Free trade", "name": "Free trade" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820143/", "id": "RL31356_2003Dec11", "date": "2003-12-11", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20031211_RL31356_39c38287957de68d2e7b3ae2c735310ff6ba91ef.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20031211_RL31356_39c38287957de68d2e7b3ae2c735310ff6ba91ef.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc824507/", "id": "RL31356_2003Jan03", "date": "2003-01-03", "retrieved": "2016-04-04T14:48:17", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": "This report provides background on Free Trade Areas (FTAs) including: definitions of Free Trade Areas, why countries form FTAs, FTAs in the context of U.S. trade policy, Bush Administration policies and recent developments, the economic impact of FTAs, whether FTAs create trade or divert it, FTAs the the WTO, debate points related to FTAs, relevant legislation, and final conclusions and implications for Congress.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20030103_RL31356_c457e7cbb24d93d0e3447c7be8cf20147c4b01d1.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20030103_RL31356_c457e7cbb24d93d0e3447c7be8cf20147c4b01d1.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Trade", "name": "Trade" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Free trade", "name": "Free trade" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign trade policy -- U.S.", "name": "Foreign trade policy -- U.S." } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc815162/", "id": "RL31356_2002Apr09", "date": "2002-04-09", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Free Trade Agreements: Impact on U.S. Trade and Implications for U.S. Trade Policy", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20020409_RL31356_a84cdcf27005ca45a3b1d4c1a5a5850e0a8c424d.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20020409_RL31356_a84cdcf27005ca45a3b1d4c1a5a5850e0a8c424d.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Agricultural Policy", "Economic Policy" ] }