U.S. choosing likely free trade partners

U.S. choosing likely free trade partners

WASHINGTON (AFP): The U.S. government is preparing a list of nations eligible to sign a free trade agreement, with Asian and Latin American nations possible candidates, a U.S. official said Thursday.

Jeffrey Garten, the U.S. undersecretary of commerce for international trade, said the list would not only tally nations eligible to join the accord with Mexico and Canada, but any bilateral or multilateral trade agreement, said Garten in a press conference.

"We are -- sometime this summer -- going to notify Congress about the countries we think are eligible for free trade agreements ... any free trade agreement," said Garten, who added that he had recently visited Asia and Latin America.

"In both of these regions we're seeing a high level of growth, we're seeing a significant amount of economic reform, and we, I believe, are on exactly the right course in terms of our trade policy, which is designed to open markets," he said.

Garten said that in deciding which countries are eligible, the criteria included the "level of economic reform, degree of openness, the state of reforms in the areas like intellectual property rights."

"That's going to weigh very heavily," he said. Garten said that Chile was the best candidate to join the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), calling the middle-income South American nation "really an excellent candidate."