CAFTA - Central America Free Trade Agreement
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Latest Update: 29 October 2025
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Rozen-Bakher, Z, CAFTA - Central America Free Trade Agreement, Monitoring Alliances by Dr. Ziva Rozen-Bakher, https://www.rozen-bakher.com/alliances/cafta
Monitoring Alliances by Dr. Ziva Rozen-Bakher
Monitoring Alliances by Dr. Ziva Rozen-Bakher: Monitoring Multilateral Alliances, Including Multilateral Military Defence Treaty (MMDT), Bilateral Military Defence Treaty (BMDT), and Foreign Military Presence, which Have a Geopolitical Impact on Global Order
Rozen-Bakher, Z. Monitoring Alliances by Dr. Ziva Rozen-Bakher https://www.rozen-bakher.com/monitoring-alliances
Dr. Ziva Rozen-Bakher
Researcher in International Relations and Foreign Policy with a Focus on International Security alongside Military, Political and Economic Risks for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and International Trade
Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)
Trump’s Trade War has led to the situation that all the USA’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are not de-facto active anymore, because the Import Tariffs that are imposed by Trump violate the FTA, which also applies to CAFTA-DR (US tariffs violate free trade deal with Central America, Guatemala says). Recently, Trump even declared his intention to impose 100% tariffs on Nicaraguan goods due to unreasonable Nicaragua's labor and human rights policies, which is clearly an excuse to violate the FTA with the members of CAFTA-DR based on a political agenda, regardless of the fact that Trump never suggests that he is going to impose higher tariffs on the USA's allies due to their human rights violations, as in the case of Israel. Importantly, there is no relation between violation of FTAs and human rights abuses, namely a country can altogether withdraw from an FTA based on human rights violations, but increasing import tariffs due to human rights abuses is seen as an excuse. Nevertheless, keep in mind that there is still a dynamic in relation to Trump’s Trade War, including regarding CAFTA-DR.
USA’s Bilateral Free Trade Agreements https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements
Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the latest version CAFTA-DR Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement is a regional Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the USA and several small South American countries, which was signed in 2004. However, since then, some governments among CAFTA members, like El Salvador and Guatemala, declared their opposition to this FTA, yet without making a formal withdrawal from CAFTA. Still, it negatively influences the trade activity of CAFTA.
Information about CAFTA-DR https://www.trade.gov/us-cafta-dr-free-trade-agreement
CAFTA, Membership Status, 2025 GSR
Section E15. CAFTA - Multilateral Alliance: Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), 2025 Global Survival Rank (GSR) by Dr. Ziva Rozen-Bakher https://www.rozen-bakher.com/gsr/2025/e/cafta
Section E15 - List of Contents
Section E15. CAFTA - Multilateral Alliance: Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), 2025 Global Survival Rank (GSR) by Dr. Ziva Rozen-Bakher
Section E15.1 CAFTA - Membership Status: Geopolitical Position, sorted by 2025 Global Survival Rank (GSR)
Section E15.2 CAFTA - Members: Global Survival Rank Indicators (R1-R7), sorted by 2025 Global Survival Rank (GSR)
From Newspapers
Nicaragua Could Face 100% Tariffs After Probe Finds Labor Abuses That Harm US Commerce
U.S. May Impose 100% Tariffs on Nicaragua Over Human Rights and Labor Abuses
US Proposes Axing Nicaragua from CAFTA & Adding 100% Tariffs
Nearshoring textiles has been a success: Here's how we can do even better
Sanction Nicaragua's Textiles and Apparel? Easier Said Than Done
US tariffs violate free trade deal with Central America, Guatemala says
Tweaking US trade policy could hold the key to reducing migration from Central America
Central America’s trade agreement expected to spur more dairy trade
This Trump plan is actually a good one: revoking Nicaragua’s CAFTA trade perks | Opinion
From Scientific Literature - Research Papers and Research Books
Corporate responsibility and the US–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA): are they compatible? Quinteros, C. (2005). Corporate responsibility and the US–Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA): are they compatible?. Development in Practice, 15(3-4), 572-583.
Trade policy, economic interests, and party politics in a developing country: The political economy of CAFTA-DR Hicks, R., Milner, H. V., & Tingley, D. (2014). Trade policy, economic interests, and party politics in a developing country: The political economy of CAFTA-DR. International Studies Quarterly, 58(1), 106-117.
Free trade and social citizenship: Prospects and possibilities of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) Abrahamson, P. (2007). Free trade and social citizenship: Prospects and possibilities of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). Global Social Policy, 7(3), 339-357.
The impact of CAFTA on poverty, distribution, and growth in El Salvador Morley, S., Nakasone, E., & Piñeiro, V. (2007). The impact of CAFTA on poverty, distribution, and growth in El Salvador. Intl Food Policy Res Inst.
The impact of CAFTA on employment, production and poverty in Honduras Morley, S., Nakasone, E., & Piñeiro, V. (2008). The impact of CAFTA on employment, production and poverty in Honduras. Intl Food Policy Res Inst.
Preferential trade agreements and unilateral liberalization: evidence from CAFTA Tovar, P. (2012). Preferential trade agreements and unilateral liberalization: evidence from CAFTA. World Trade Review, 11(4), 591-619.
Impact of FDI and trade on environmental quality in the CAFTA-DR region Frutos-Bencze, D., Bukkavesa, K., & Kulvanich, N. (2017). Impact of FDI and trade on environmental quality in the CAFTA-DR region. Applied Economics Letters, 24(19), 1393-1398.
" A new way of doing politics": The movement against cafta in Costa Rica Rayner, J. (2014). " A new way of doing politics": The movement against cafta in Costa Rica. City University of New York.
CAFTA opposition: divergent networks, uneasy solidarities Finley-Brook, M., & Hoyt, K. (2009). CAFTA opposition: divergent networks, uneasy solidarities. Latin American Perspectives, 36(6), 27-45.
Towards better work in Central America: Nicaragua and the CAFTA context Bair, J., & Gereffi, G. (2014). Towards better work in Central America: Nicaragua and the CAFTA context. In Towards better work: Understanding labour in apparel global value chains (pp. 251-275). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.
The CAFTA-DR Free Trade Agreement—Analyzing its effects in a modern gravity framework Rojas Rodríguez, J. R., & Matschke, X. (2023). The CAFTA-DR Free Trade Agreement—Analyzing its effects in a modern gravity framework. International Economics and Economic Policy, 20(1), 27-93.
Main drivers of regional value chains in CAFTA: Does trade facilitation matter? Yu, Y., & Song, Z. (2023). Main drivers of regional value chains in CAFTA: Does trade facilitation matter?. Plos one, 18(12), e0289775.
Impact of textile raw material access on CAFTA-DR members' apparel exports to the United States: a quantitative evaluation Lu, S. (2024). Impact of textile raw material access on CAFTA-DR members’ apparel exports to the United States: a quantitative evaluation. The Journal of The Textile Institute, 115(4), 544-552.
Rethinking the CAFTA-DR: Addressing Implementation Gaps for Sustainable Commodity Production Laing, M. (2024). Rethinking the CAFTA-DR: Addressing Implementation Gaps for Sustainable Commodity Production. Wyo. L. Rev., 24, 191.
How Does Regional Trade Policy Uncertainty Affect the Quality of Imported Products?—An Analysis Using CAFTA Zhou, K., Yu, L., Han, Y., Kumar, S., & Wang, Y. (2025). How Does Regional Trade Policy Uncertainty Affect the Quality of Imported Products?—An Analysis Using CAFTA. The World Economy.
“Cross Treaty Interpretation” en bloc or How CAFTA-DR Tribunals Are Systematically Interpreting the FET Standard Based on NAFTA Case Law Dumberry, P. (2023). “Cross Treaty Interpretation” en bloc or How CAFTA-DR Tribunals Are Systematically Interpreting the FET Standard Based on NAFTA Case Law. The Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals, 22(2), 384-418.
The impact of apparel specific rules of origin on US textile and apparel trade: case study on CAFTA-DR countries Colby-Oizumi, H., Freund, K., Tsigas, M. E., & Rodriguez, L. (2022). The impact of apparel specific rules of origin on US textile and apparel trade: case study on CAFTA-DR countries. Office of Industries, US International Trade Commission.
The CAFTA-DR Free Trade Agreement—Analyzing its effects in a modern gravity framework Rojas Rodríguez, J. R., & Matschke, X. (2023). The CAFTA-DR Free Trade Agreement—Analyzing its effects in a modern gravity framework. International Economics and Economic Policy, 20(1), 27-93.
