Crucial talks on tariffs and ''sensitive products'' were postponed until July 2001, he added. IBD talked with Richard Feinberg, an architect of the 1994 Miami Summit of the Americas, about them. At the same time, the Europeans are worried about the U.S., which has been gaining markets there. Also, Latin America, economically and politically, has been doing better. So the region makes for a more attractive partner.
Some Latin countries are concerned with what they see as excessive U.S. influence.
And pragmatically, the Latin Americans would like more ready access to European markets and to attract more direct investment from Europe. The absence of strict end dates reduces the credibility of the commitment to free trade. There's another reason for going slow. Countries will hesitate to make concessions in regional trade talks that they may want to use as bargaining chips in the global round. But at every major regional summit these days, it's de rigueur to advance a free-trade regional objective.