Engaging the USA The USA is one of the participants in APEC likely to have difficulty with a voluntary approach to economic co-operation. Its policy-makers are much more accustomed to international co-operation based on formal structure and negotiations leading to binding and enforceable agreements. This is the style of GATT/WTO negotiations and the complex legal basis of NAFTA. It is implicitly, expected to be the model for US involvement in other regional economic co-operation initiatives, including the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas Many important US decisions to reduce impediments to international economic transactions, particularly traditional forms of protectionism such as tariffs or quantitative restrictions. require approval from the US Congress Although the USA is one of the world's most open economies, it has a political structure which regards market opening measures as "costs", rather than the benefits they really are. Accordingly, congressional approval for the decisions which will be required to implement the USAs Bogor commitment may require the administration to point to comparable "concessions" by others, either in the context of regional or multilateral negotiations. Concerns are also likely about