ABSTRACT
The very small, open economies of the largely English-speaking Caribbean, which came together to establish the Caribbean Common Market (CARICOM), have had a fairly long history of involvement in free trade agreements (FTAs). The Treaty of Chaguaramas established CARICOM on 4 July 1973 and was signed by Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, the four largest English-speaking countries in the region. It was later expanded to include most of the smaller territories, including the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Haiti, Suriname and the Bahamas. Unsurprisingly, there exists a wide variety of legal and political differentiation between the nations. Most are independent while some remain colonies, or quasicolonies, with questionable degrees of control over their own affairs. This makes for a fascinating, or painstaking, approach to external trade agreements because it is often very difficult to obtain consensus within the group and in negotiations with external parties. Nevertheless, the region has successfully concluded a modest number of agreements. Questions remain, however, about their utility due to scant evidence of accrued benefits to the region, past or present.
