South America Trade

The presidents of three South American countries moved a step closer to their goal of forming a Latin American common market. Presidents Raul Alfonsin of Argentina, Jose Sarney of Brazil and Julio Sanguinetti of Uruguay, meeting at a "mini-summit" in Buenos Aires, signed new accords under an economic cooperation plan launched in 1986.

Top executives at Los Angeles-based clothier Forever 21 underscored the company's plans for expansion in Latin America as they formally opened a new corporate headquarters in Lincoln Heights. The cheap-chic retailer, which has more than 500 stores worldwide, said it's planning its next expansion in Costa Rica and Brazil. The company has one store in Bogotá and has plans for seven more throughout Colombia. As hundreds of employees stood outside the new headquarters on Wednesday, Forever 21 founder and Chief Executive Don Chang said, "Together we can make Forever 21 No. 1. " He recalled opening his first store, then known as Fashion 21, on Figueroa Street in nearby Highland Park in 1984.

As Western Europe moves toward economic unity in 1992, Latin American countries are taking new aim at the "integration" of their economies to speed development and compete in international markets. "We are working intensely at that task, and may God will that in the year 2000 we Latin Americans find ourselves totally integrated," President Carlos Saul Menem of Argentina said recently.

Officials from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will meet this week in a bid to hammer out trade spats that are souring relations within Mercosur, the world's third-largest trade bloc. Beginning today, trade representatives said they will converge on Rio de Janeiro in hopes of finding solutions to trade wars raging over cars, chicken and sugar between the biggest partners, Brazil and Argentina.

Presidents of South America's Andean nations wound up a two-day meeting in Guayaquil, Ecuador, agreeing to work toward free trade in services within their five-nation bloc by 2005. The Andean Community leaders signed an accord aimed at beginning negotiations on such trade in the first half of this year.

The presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay signed a blueprint Tuesday to build a gigantic common market--stretching from the Equator to Antarctica--to compete with other world trading blocs. The Southern Common Market treaty, known as Mercosur, would dismantle trade barriers and encourage cross-border investment and joint projects during the next four years. It aims to integrate neighboring nations that have been stunted by protectionism, rivalry and political instability.

Four presidents signed a trade agreement here Saturday that unites the countries along South America's eastern coast from the steamy Amazon jungle to the frosty south. The Mercosur trade bloc of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will have a population of 200 million people and a combined economic output of $750 billion a year. The agreement takes effect Jan. 1. "Our predecessors always dreamed of a united America," said Argentine President Carlos Menem.

What once seemed like ivory tower daydreaming is now reality in the making: Huge trade blocs are forming up and down the Americas to let goods and services pass freely across international borders. Not only is there a NAFTA--the North American Free Trade Agreement, stretching from the Yukon to the Yucatan. There is also a SAFTA--a South American free-trade area that extends from Amazonia to Patagonia.

Officials from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will meet this week in a bid to hammer out trade spats that are souring relations within Mercosur, the world's third-largest trade bloc. Beginning today, trade representatives said they will converge on Rio de Janeiro in hopes of finding solutions to trade wars raging over cars, chicken and sugar between the biggest partners, Brazil and Argentina.

The News Four South American countries, with a combined population of 190 million and a collective gross domestic product of $390 billion, signed a treaty March 26 to create a common market that is to eliminate all tariffs and other trade barriers among them by 1996. Officially named the Southern Common Market, it is known by the acronyms Mercosur in Spanish and Mercosul in Portuguese.

Agriculture officials from South America's leading food producers will meet in Buenos Aires today to reach common ground on trade and food safety issues ahead of a meeting with the European Union in April. Brazilian Agriculture Minister Marcus Vinicius Pratini de Moraes and Argentine Agriculture Secretary Antonio Berhongaray will try to settle trade rifts over pork, chickens, rice, wheat, dairy products and honey between their two nations.

Presidents of South America's Andean nations wound up a two-day meeting in Guayaquil, Ecuador, agreeing to work toward free trade in services within their five-nation bloc by 2005. The Andean Community leaders signed an accord aimed at beginning negotiations on such trade in the first half of this year.

A reported World Bank study criticizing the Mercosur free-trade pact obscures the more important evolution of South American nations toward freer trade and openness to foreign investment, analysts and business executives said Wednesday. The World Bank sought to play down the significance of a leaked internal study that said the Mercosur group--Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay--protected inefficient industries in those countries and discouraged imports.

Suddenly, an economic powerhouse is rising on the South American horizon. Ambitious dreams became a reality Jan. 1 with the beginning of zero-tariff trade among the four members of Mercosur, the so-called Southern Common Market. The new free-trade bloc has a combined population of nearly 200 million, is larger than Europe and includes South America's two most productive economies, Brazil and Argentina. Paraguay and Uruguay are the other members. But Mercosur is not stopping there.

Four presidents signed a trade agreement here Saturday that unites the countries along South America's eastern coast from the steamy Amazon jungle to the frosty south. The Mercosur trade bloc of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay will have a population of 200 million people and a combined economic output of $750 billion a year. The agreement takes effect Jan. 1. "Our predecessors always dreamed of a united America," said Argentine President Carlos Menem.

What once seemed like ivory tower daydreaming is now reality in the making: Huge trade blocs are forming up and down the Americas to let goods and services pass freely across international borders. Not only is there a NAFTA--the North American Free Trade Agreement, stretching from the Yukon to the Yucatan. There is also a SAFTA--a South American free-trade area that extends from Amazonia to Patagonia.

The presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay meet Friday and Saturday at this ski resort in the Argentine Andes to update their plans for a regional common market. The Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR), with a combined population of nearly 200 million, is scheduled to be in full operation by January, 1995.

A reported World Bank study criticizing the Mercosur free-trade pact obscures the more important evolution of South American nations toward freer trade and openness to foreign investment, analysts and business executives said Wednesday. The World Bank sought to play down the significance of a leaked internal study that said the Mercosur group--Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay--protected inefficient industries in those countries and discouraged imports.

The presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay meet Friday and Saturday at this ski resort in the Argentine Andes to update their plans for a regional common market. The Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR), with a combined population of nearly 200 million, is scheduled to be in full operation by January, 1995.

The News Four South American countries, with a combined population of 190 million and a collective gross domestic product of $390 billion, signed a treaty March 26 to create a common market that is to eliminate all tariffs and other trade barriers among them by 1996. Officially named the Southern Common Market, it is known by the acronyms Mercosur in Spanish and Mercosul in Portuguese.