Canada–Central American Four Free Trade Agreement

The Canada–Central American Four Free Trade Agreement was a proposed free trade agreement between Canada and the Central American states of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua (collectively referred to as the Central American Four or CA4).{{Cite web |url=https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100021840 |url-access= |title=Canada - Central America Four Free Trade Agreement (CA4TA) |author1=Staff writer |year=2024 |department=UIA Global Civil Society Database |website=uia.org |publisher=Union of International Associations |agency=Yearbook of International Organizations Online |location=Brussels, Belgium |format= |arxiv= |asin= |bibcode= |doi= |doi-broken-date= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |access-date=24 December 2024 |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |via= |quote= |trans-quote= |ref= |postscript=}}{{efn|At the time Canada already had a bilateral FTA with another Central American country, Costa Rica.}} Twelve rounds of negotiations were undertaken between 2001 and 2010, after which no agreement had been reached.{{Cite web |url=http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/ca4.aspx?view=d |title=Canada – Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador (Formerly Canada – Central American Four) Free Trade Agreement Negotiations - Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada |access-date=2012-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806064016/http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/ca4.aspx?view=d |archive-date=2012-08-06 |url-status=dead }} Canada and Honduras instead decided to pursue a bilateral agreement between themselves, and those negotiations concluded successfully in August 2011.{{Cite web |url=http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/honduras/index.aspx?lang=eng&view=d |title=Canada - Honduras Free Trade Agreement - Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada |access-date=2012-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013145545/http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/honduras/index.aspx?lang=eng&view=d |archive-date=2012-10-13 |url-status=dead }}

The United States negotiated and ratified a similar treaty with these countries, called the Central American Free Trade Agreement. In a referendum on October 7, 2007, the voters of Costa Rica narrowly backed the free trade agreement with the U.S., with about 52 percent of "Yes" votes.[https://web.archive.org/web/20071011015300/http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2007-10-08T040328Z_01_N07266567_RTRIDST_0_COSTARICA-TRADE-UPDATE-4-PIX-TV.XML Costa Ricans narrowly back free trade with U.S. - Reuters, 8 October 2007]}