Canada–Central American Four Free Trade Agreement Explained

The Canada–Central American Four Free Trade Agreement was a proposed free trade agreement between Canada and the Central American states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua (collectively referred to as the Central American Four or CA4). Twelve rounds of negotiations were undertaken between 2001 and 2010, after which no agreement had been reached.^[1] Canada and Honduras instead decided to pursue a bilateral agreement between themselves, and those negotiations concluded successfully in August 2011.^[2]

The United States negotiated and ratified a similar treaty with these countries, called the Central American Free Trade Agreement. In a referendum on October 7, 2007, the voters of Costa Rica narrowly backed the free trade agreement with the U.S., with about 52 percent of "Yes" votes.^[3]

See also

• List of free trade agreements

External links

• Statement by the Canadian Council for International Co-operation

Notes and References

1. Web site: Canada – Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador (Formerly Canada – Central American Four) Free Trade Agreement Negotiations - Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada . 2012-08-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120806064016/http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/ca4.aspx?view=d . 2012-08-06 . dead .
2. Web site: Canada - Honduras Free Trade Agreement - Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada . 2012-08-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121013145545/http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/honduras/index.aspx?lang=eng&view=d . 2012-10-13 . dead .
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20071011015300/http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2007-10-08T040328Z_01_N07266567_RTRIDST_0_COSTARICA-TRADE-UPDATE-4-PIX-TV.XML Costa Ricans narrowly back free trade with U.S. - Reuters, 8 October 2007