Life After the Lomé Convention: The Case of St Lucia

The Caribbean island of St. Lucia is an example of how a small state can be caught in a free trade dispute among giants. The EU will further lower tariffs on Latin American bananas to comply with WTO and American standards of free trade. This will drive down the price of St. Lucian bananas, which were formally protected by special tariff agreements. St. Lucia has lost substantial revenues since Europe has liberalized its banana regime, its nationals turning desperately to the informal sector...more