The Road from Cancun to Free Trade in Manufactured Goods

The Bush administration has proposed zero tariffs on manufactured goods worldwide by 2015 through negotiations in the World Trade Organization, whose members meet in September in Cancun, Mexico. At the same time, the administration is pursuing a string of bilateral and regional trade agreements to achieve free trade more rapidly and comprehensively with a select group of countries. Do bilateral deals complement or undermine the goal of global free trade in manufactured goods? Four experts in trade with differing views on that question debate the merits of the administration’s trade strategy.