MACMILLAN Corporate versus National Interest in US Trade Policy: Chiquita and Caribbean Bananas

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.  Review “In a meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government and President Clinton, I expressed that the Banana Industry, for our small island developing states of the Caribbean, was analogous to the motor car industry to Detroit. Bernal provides a lucid and authentic account of how and why the Clinton Administration executed a policy which resulted in the dismantling of the arrangements which facilitated the export of bananas to the European Union. The detrimental effects of this action are still reverberating in the Caribbean.” (Percival Noel James Patterson, Prime Minister, Jamaica (1992-2005)) “This book provides an insightful explanation of United States’ involvement in dismantling the EU banana regime and its harmful repercussions for the Caribbean banana exporting countries. It illustrates concerns for protecting the narrow commercial interest of a US Company, Chiquita, the corporate successor of the United Fruit Company. The experience indicates that Chiquita’s success in having the United States dismantle the EU regime was detrimental to US national security interests in the Caribbean. This well written book will be of special interest to those in international relations, diplomacy, corporate governance and all those interested in the constantly shifting interactions among competing interests and actors: political parties, corporations, business associations, individuals, government departments, think tanks, non-government organizations and even foreign governments.” (Edward J. Greene, Chancellor, University of Guyana) “Chiquita's capture of American trade policy towards the European Union in the 1990s truly turned the United States itself into a banana republic. At last, this extraordinary story has found its chronicler. Bernal is a top trade economist from the Caribbean and was personally involved in all of the diplomacy surrounding the issue as Jamaica's ambassador to the US from 1991 to 2001.” (Anthony Payne, Professor of Politics, University of Sheffield) About the Author Richard L. Bernal was Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Affairs at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica.  He was a Member of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Development Bank from 2008 to 2016. Previous to the IADB, he was the Director-General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) for eight years with responsibility for trade negotiations for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Cuba and the Dominican Republic. He was Principal Negotiator for the Forum of Caribbean States (CARIFORUM) in the negotiation of the CARIFORUM-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement and CARICOM’s lead negotiator and spokesperson in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations. Bernal was Jamaica’s Ambassador to the US and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) from May 1991 to August 2001.