Latinnews Daily - 10 November 2003

In a major climb-down the US appears to have dropped its idea for a broad and comprehensive Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement. After a meeting on Friday and Saturday outside Washington, trade negotiators from 15 of the 34 FTAA countries agreed that each country should decide whether it wants to open its markets fully to all other 33 countries or whether it will just open its markets to a minimum common standard.