The Biden administration said Friday that it would begin negotiations with 11 mostly Latin American nations on an agreement designed to promote regional economic cooperation without offering greater access to the U.S. market for their goods.

The announcement came in a virtual meeting featuring Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and representatives of the participating nations.

The initiative is intended to spur broad prosperity and tackle some of the Western Hemisphere’s toughest problems, including mass migration to the United States.

But the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP), which President Biden launched in June at a summit with regional leaders, falls short of the traditional trade agreements the United States has negotiated in the past.

…

Voters will hold the administration accountable if Biden’s new approach to trade ultimately favors corporate interests, according to Lori Wallach, a trade expert with the American Economic Liberties Project, a nonprofit that opposes concentrated economic power.

“It could have major policy and political impact because millions of Americans who were slammed by past corporate-rigged trade agreements hear that this administration is creating a new trade policy to help them and that creates expectations that can turn to anger,” she said.

…