Supply Chain

When Free Trade Agreements Are Not Free

March 18, 2012

Since the advent of NAFTA in the early-90's, the American business community has been told the benefits of free trade agreements far out weigh the negatives. And for many, it has been the case.

Nevertheless, we often encounter U.S. companies who try hard to play by the rules of such agreements and still get screwed.

A typical example has happened to VSAT Systems of Akron, Ohio in Costa Rica.

The company's initial excitement with the passage of CAFTA has become a nightmare.

Click here to read the whole story.

About the Author

Andrew R. Thomas Blog | Associate Professor of Marketing and International Business

Andrew R. Thomas, Ph.D., is associate professor of marketing and international business at the University of Akron; and, a member of the core faculty at the International School of Management in Paris, France.

He is a bestselling business author/editor, whose 23 books include, most recently, American Shale Energy and the Global Economy: Business and Geopolitical Implications of the Fracking Revolution, The Customer Trap: How to Avoid the Biggest Mistake in Business, Global Supply Chain Security, The Final Journey of the Saturn V, and Soft Landing: Airline Industry Strategy, Service and Safety.

His book The Distribution Trap was awarded the Berry-American Marketing Association Prize for the Best Marketing Book of 2010. Another work, Direct Marketing in Action, was a finalist for the same award in 2008.

Andrew is founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Transportation Security and a regularly featured analyst for media outlets around the world.

He has traveled to and conducted business in 120 countries on all seven continents.