Chiquita

Free trade is complex – The two sides of the equation

Free trade requires a stable international trade regime. Yet business interests in unfettered market access are only one factor in the equation. Rules regulating international trade such as those promulgated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) balance shared interests in the promotion of international trade with national sovereignty and governments’ desire to preserve policy autonomy. In this setting, conflict is the norm, not the exception. What is decried as protectionism or illegal dumping from one vantage point, for example, may be seen as legitimate industrial policy on the other end. What is the character of the international trade regime? How does it affect international business and what recourse do companies have when foreign firms or governments do not meet their obligations? What risks are involved in “going political”?

THE US interests VS. EU interests

The US government is now at the forefront of forging negotiations in the trade dispute because US fruit conglomerates are suffering, whereas the European fruit counterparts are benefitting. The resolution, if any, of the greater international dispute over world banana trade will inevitably have an effect on ecological/banana industry relationship in Costa Rica.

Germany VS the colonial countries

Since Qualified Majority Voting was instituted with the Single European Act for EC (now EU) market issues in 1987, the Germans, who have preferred the cheaper, larger and (to the Germans) more sumptuous bananas from Latin America, were outvoted predominantly by France, Spain, Britain and Portugal who favored maintaining the Lome agreements as part of the integrative "European" initiative. The Germans, in essence, were being forced to accept more expensive, smaller and less desirable (for the Germans) bananas from the ACP. The Germans never had to worry about colonial protection because it had been stripped of its colonies after World War I, unlike...