Online Custom «Cross Border» Essay Sample

Question 1. How many FTA (free trade agreements) has the US signed and with what countries?

The United States has currently in force 20 free trade agreements. These agreements were made with Australia, Canada, Chile, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. Israel, El Salvador, Korea, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Singapore, and Panama are included as well. The United States is also in negotiations for an Asia-Pacific trade agreement and a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Question 2. What is the current issue affecting Export-Import Bank? What is the deadline for resolving it?

The current issue affecting the export-import bank is that critics in Congress are accusing it of being a corporate welfare. They point out that in excess of 80% of its funds are used to back the purchases from large corporations, such as Caterpillar, Boeing, and GE. It has threaten many Republicans to vote against the legislation that authorizes the agency when its lifeline expires. They have a deadline till June of 2016 to resolve the issue, since by the end of it its lifeline expires.

Question 3. What is an FTZ and how many are operating in San Antonio? What are the functions of FTZs?

FTZ stands for a free trade zone. It is a geographical area in which goods may be handled, landed, reconfigured or manufactured and re-exported without the involvement of customs authority. They are a class of larger special economic zone (Jafari, 2013). They are organized around international airports, ports, and national frontiers. These are the areas that have many geographical advantages for trade. They are labor-intensive manufacturing centers. There is one General Purpose Foreign-Trade Zone in Port San Antonio’s 1900 acre site.

Free trade zones are used majorly for warehouse, repair, assembly, testing, label, manufacture and salvage purposes.

Question 4. Explain what TPA is and why it is so important for treaties like NAFTA. What is the status of TPA today – has President Obama been granted this by the US Congress?

TPA stands for Trade Promotion Authority. It is a legislative tool that is aimed at advancing trade negotiations, thus enabling the US to expand its opportunities in the competitive market and give US businesses the ability to succeed in the global market. It allows the sitting president to submit agreements on trade to the Congress for an up or down vote without amendment within a set period. It is important for treaties like NAFTA because it allows negotiations to take place by granting The President authority to spearhead them. President Obama has the Trade Promotion Authority that was granted by the Congress. It is stronger than the previous presidents had, since it allows for protection of the US environment and workers (Griswold, 2015).

Question 5. Poverty in Mexico

Based on the World Bank classification, less than 2% of Mexican people live below the international poverty line. The basis for the classification is such parameters as shelter, education, clean water, healthcare, nutrition, income, and social security (Becerril & Abdulai, 2010). The government of Mexico estimates that about 33% of its population lives in moderate poverty with a further 9% living in extreme poverty. It means that 42% of total population live below the national poverty line. Economists argue that it has a growth potential to be among the five biggest economies in the next four decades, despite the common trends like violence and emigration. Despite its current financial woes, it remains the second largest economy in Latin America (Becerril & Abdulai, 2010). It has achieved this through extensive changes in economic policies and government attempts to reduce interference by privatizing several sectors. Despite this, social stratification is still rampant and accounts for the disparity between rich urban and poor rural areas. The southern states, segregated historically, hold the highest levels of unemployment, illiteracy, and poor infrastructure. The unemployment rate was 5.5% in 2009. Despite it being relatively low, it keeps getting worse because the rate of job creation is below the target every year. Education reforms, reduction of segregation, increased creation of employment opportunities are crucial to poverty alleviation in Mexico (Becerril & Abdulai, 2010).