Americas Program: Trade and Environment Issues in the Americas

About this grant

In the early 1990s, the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) began a new era of hemispheric relations in the Americas, with economics playing a major role. In recent years, trade integration and the negotiation of trade agreements has expanded to include the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Multiyear funding will support research and dissemination of information related to economic integration, the negotiation of trade agreements and the impacts of trade liberalization in the Western Hemisphere. Objectives include documenting citizen responses to environmental problems related to trade and integration; disseminating research about environmental impacts and sustainable development alternatives; conducting outreach to, and strengthening networks of, non-governmental organizations and experts; and contributing to strategies to strengthen environmental protection in trade and integration processes.The Interhemispheric Resource Center, founded in 1979, is a research and policy analysis center specializing in current economic, environmental and political issues, particularly those regarding U.S. foreign policy.