This book provides a history of the WTO US-EU banana dispute through the lens of a major actor: the US-owned multinational firm, Chiquita Brands International. It documents and explains how Chiquita succeeded in having the Clinton administration pursue a trade policy of forcing the European Union to dismantle its preferential banana import regime for exports from the small English-speaking Caribbean (ESC) countries. The export of bananas was critically important to the social stability and economic viability of these countries and that was in the national security interest of the United States. The experience indicates that succeeding in this goal was detrimental to U.S. national security interest in the Caribbean.
Author(s): Richard L. Bernal
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 283
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Objective and Organization
Introduction
Objectives
Methodology
Organization
Conclusion
Chapter 2: Corporate Influence in US Trade Policy
Introduction
Objectives
Philosophies
Policy Formulation as a Synthesis
Policy Implementation
White House
Congress7
USTR and Interagency Process
Interest Groups
Lobbyists
Think Tanks
Nongovernmental Organizations and Universities
Labor Organizations
Media
Foreign Actors in US Trade Policy
Influence of Corporations on Trade Policy
Corporate Executives in the Cabinet
Revolving-Door: Federal Bureaucracy and Corporate America
Influence of Money in US Politics
Money, Lobbying, and Perverse Policy Outcomes
Corporate Dominance of the Consultative Process
National Versus Corporate Interests in US Trade Policy
Overview
Chapter 3: The Importance of Bananas in the Caribbean
Introduction
The Caribbean
Emergence of the Banana Industry in Jamaica
Creation of the Banana Industry in the Eastern Caribbean
Nature of Banana Farming
Downside of the Banana Industry
Importance of the Banana Industry
Epilogue
Chapter 4: The EU Banana Regime
Introduction
Part 1
Preferential Trade Arrangements for Developing Countries
Rationale and Operation
Preference Erosion: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Impact on Small Vulnerable Developing Economies
Causes of Preference Erosion
Grounds for Maintaining Preferences
Legitimacy
Vulnerability
Affordability
Imperfect Substitutability
Retention of Preferences
Recalibration of Preferences25
Restructuring Preference-Dependent Economies
Redimensioning Development Financing
Part II
EU Banana Regime
The Evolution of EU Banana Regime
Corporate Control of the EEC Banana Market
Challenges to the EU Regime
The EU Banana Regime of 1993
The EU Position
Part III
Tradition of Trade Preferences for the Caribbean
The Banana Case in the GATT/WTO
The First GATT Challenge
The Second GATT Challenge
The WTO Challenge
Final Banana Agreement
Summary
Chapter 5: Chiquita and Its Influence on US Trade Policy
Introduction
Evolution
State-Corporate Nexus
Monopolizing the Banana Business
Corrupt Practices
Playing Hardball with Critics
Lindner’s Political Influence
Congressional Tactics
Conflating Corporate and National Interest
No Common Industry Position
Differences in Corporate Strategy
Departure from Traditional US Trade Policy
Banana War
No Special Relationship
Chiquita’s Bankruptcy and Demise
Chapter 6: Chiquita Overwhelms the Small Caribbean States
Introduction
The Start
Dialogue Suddenly Terminated
The Banana Industry in the Caribbean
Chiquita: Descendent of United Fruit Company
Chiquita’s Spurious Claim
Dynamics of Us Banana Policy
Bureaucracy
Us Business Community
Media
Think Tanks
The Executive
Congress
Congressional Black Caucus
Senator Dole’s Lobbying For Chiquita
Lobbyists
Caribbean Community in the United States
African American Community
Caribbean Business Community
Us Business Community
EU Business Community
Caribbean Governments
Free Trade Advocates
World Trade Organization
Transatlantic Nexus
Strategy
Epilogue
Chapter 7: Impact of US Banana Policy on the Caribbean
Introduction
Erosion of Confidence, Build-Up of Resentment
Genesis of Economic Crisis
Decline in Economic Growth
Clear and Present Danger of Economic Fallout
Region-Wide Impact
Structural Adjustment
Alternative Crops Not Feasible
US Palliative
Lack of US Aid Compounded the Crisis
Increased Drug Trafficking
Transnational Organized Crime
Violence
9/11 and Tourism
Debt Debacle
Resort To Unorthodoxy
Summary
Chapter 8: Implications for US National Interest in the Caribbean
The National Interest
US National Interest in the Caribbean
Political
Diplomatic
Cuba
Venezuela
China
Economic
Export Markets
Source of Raw Materials
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Peace and Democracy
National Security
Trade Policy
Sugar
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)
Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI)
Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement
Social
National Security
To the Detriment of US National Interests
The Phyrric Victory of Chiquita
Bibliography
Books
Articles in Journals
Chapters in Books
Monographs and Working Papers
Magazine
Newspaper
Reports
Letters
Other
Index
