A US-Middle East Trade Agreement - A Circle of Opportunity? (Paperback)

Would Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) between the nations of the Middle East and the United States be beneficial? What type of economic benefits could be expected? Since the FTA with Jordon was signed in October 2000, Jordanian exports to the US increased from $72.8 million in 2000 to a stunning $1.267 billion in 2005 and the exports were so large that the bilateral balance of trade shifted from a Jordanian deficit of $239 million in 2000 to a surplus of $624 million in 2005. Would other Middle Eastern countries derive similar benefits? Lawrence uses the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model of world trade and economic activity to analyze the expected trade and other economic impacts of the prospective FTA and to examine bilateral trade and investment flows, bilateral trade frictions, and implications of the prospective accords for the bilateral, regional, and global trade relations of the countries involved.