This article examines current trade patterns of the Caribbean Basin and the likely impact that changes in the international trade environment will have on them. The numerous bilateral and subregional preferential agreements that sustain the region's economy will be the framework in which Caribbean trade is examined. Also examined are the threats posed to these relationships by the implementation of free trade arrangements and the changing political alliances throughout the global community. We conclude with an evaluation of potential Caribbean responses to the challenges of the international economy of the twenty-first century.
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References
1.
1. According to Peter B. Johnson of Caribbean/Latin American Action, “The CBI has not met all its goals of generating employment and private-sector-led investment opportunities and broadly based economic growth has not been realized.” Peter B. Johnson, Executive Director, Caribbean/Latin American Action, testimony before U.S., Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, 22 July 1992, p. 1.
2.
2. U.S., Department of Commerce, Caribbean Basin Exporter's Guide (Washington, DC: Department of Commerce, Feb. 1992), p. 2.
3.
3. Bill Werlick, Potential Effects of a North American Free Trade Agreement on Apparel Investment in CBERA Countries, no. 332-321, pub. no. 2451 (Washington, DC: International Trade Commission, 1992), p. 4.
4.
4. These shows drew their information from National Labor Committee Education Fund in Support of Worker and Human Rights in Central America, Paying to Lose Our Jobs (New York: National Labor Committee Education Fund in Support of Worker and Human Rights in Central America, 1992).
5.
5. Myles Frechette, “CARICOM and the United States Trade Policy” (Remarks delivered at the West Indian Commission Conference, Washington, DC, 11 Sept. 1992).
6.
6. David E. Lewis, “The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Its Impact on the Caribbean Basin Economies” (Paper delivered at the Symposium on the Caribbean, Centre for Caribbean Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry, England, 26 Nov. 1991), p. 5.
7.
7. Paul Sutton, ed., Europe and the Caribbean (London: Macmillan Caribbean, 1991), p. 20.
8.
8. Tony Thorndike, “Europe and the Caribbean: Threat or Opportunity?”Caribbean Affairs, 3(4):41 (Oct.-Dec. 1990).
9.
9. See Sutton, Europe and the Caribbean, chap. 2.
10.
10. David Stephen, “The Caribbean States” (Ditchley Conference Report no. D91/15, 1991), p. 3.
11.
11. Conditions for Haitian and Dominican Republic entrance into the Lomé included exclusion from the sugar and banana protocols.
12.
12. Thorndike, “Europe and the Caribbean,” p. 43.
13.
idem , “Caribbean Fears Remain about EC Banana Sales,”Financial Times, 10 Sept. 1991.
14.
14. West India Committee, “New Directions for British Policy in the Caribbean” (London, 1990).
15.
15. Ibid.
16.
16. Ibid.
17.
17. Paul Sutton and Anthony Payne, “Commonwealth Caribbean Diplomacy: A New Strategy for the New World Order,”Caribbean Affairs, 5(2):51 (1992).
18.
18. Gert Oostindie, “The Dutch Caribbean in the 1990s: Decolonisation or Recolonisation?”Caribbean Affairs, 5(1):117 (1992).
19.
19. Paul Sutton, “The Future of Relations between the European Community and the Caribbean,”Courier, p. 57 (Mar.-Apr. 1992).
20.
20. Canute James, “Caricom, Venezuela Implement Trade Pact,”Journal of Commerce, 13 Jan. 1993, p. 5A.
21.
21. Caribbean Council for Europe, “Communiqué: The Fifth Europe/Caribbean Conference,”Curaçao, 9-11 Nov. 1992.
22.
22. Stephen, “Caribbean States.”
23.
23. “New Debt-for-Science Bill Seeks to Counteract European, Japanese Influence on Latin American, Caribbean Technology,”Washington Report on Latin America and the Caribbean, 29 Nov. 1991, p. 165.
24.
24. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Department of State, Status Report, Caribbean Basin Technical Advisory Group, Nov. 1991, p. 4.
