ABSTRACT
Like a Locomotive Hurtling Down the Tracks, the Free Trade and investment express is gathering speed, transforming the rules of the international economy at a breathtaking pace. Within the past two years, the Clinton Administration has obtained congressional approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In November 1994, President Clinton and 17 other leaders of countries in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum agreed on lifting barriers to trade and investment over a 25-year period. In December 1994 the heads of state of all the nations in the Western hemisphere (with the exception of Cuba) agreed in Miami to the creation of a “Free Trade Area of the Americas” by the year 2005. By removing barriers to trade and investment, these agreements, if fully implemented, will greatly improve the opportunities for multinational corporations and banks to deploy capital across national boundaries.
