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The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is closer to becoming a reality, with potentially major effects on the flows of goods and capital across the Western Hemisphere and significant consequences for growth and development in the region. In Central America, the advent of the Central America–US Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is imminent. This article is a summary of a broader report that aims to provide guidance to these countries on what they can expect from the FTAA and CAFTA, and to identify policies--both in terms of measures that countries can take unilaterally and those that could be negotiated with FTA partners–that can help them derive the maximum benefits from trade integration in the Americas.

Mexico’s performance under NAFTA provides the most directly relevant experiment from which other LCR countries can learn about the likely contents and economic effects of a trade agreement with the …