Corporate versus National Interest in US Trade Policy

This book provides a history of the WTO US-EU banana dispute through the lens of a major actor: the US-owned multinational firm, Chiquita Brands International. It documents and explains how Chiquita succeeded in having the Clinton administration pursue a trade policy of forcing the European Union to dismantle its preferential banana import regime for exports from the small English-speaking Caribbean (ESC) countries. The export of bananas was critically important to the social stability and economic viability of these countries and that was in the national security interest of the United States. The experience indicates that succeeding in this goal was detrimental to U.S. national security interest in the Caribbean.

Written by a diplomat with firsthand experience of the campaign on behalf of the Caribbean banana producing countries Uses the case study of Chiquita to illustrate the clash between corporate and national interest in trade policy Shows how the US was involved in the dismantling of the EU banana regime

Auteur

Richard L. Bernal was Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Affairs at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica. He was a Member of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank from 2008 to 2016. Previous to the IADB, he was the Director-General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) for eight years with responsibility for trade negotiations for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Cuba and the Dominican Republic. He was Principal Negotiator for the Forum of Caribbean States (CARIFORUM) in the negotiation of the CARIFORUM-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement and CARICOM's lead negotiator and spokesperson in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations. Bernal was Jamaica's Ambassador to the US and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) from May 1991 to August 2001.

Contenu

1. Objective and Organization.- 2. Corporate Influence in US Trade Policy.- 3. The Importance of Bananas in the Caribbean.- 4. The EU Banana Regime.- 5. Chiquita and Its Influence on US Trade Policy.- 6. Chiquita Overwhelms the Small Caribbean States.- 7. Impact of US Banana Policy on the Caribbean.- 8. Implications for US National Interest in the Caribbean.