United States Treasury Secretary John Snow is optimistic that the January 1 deadline for the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations will be met, despite some recent setbacks in the talks. "We're still hopeful that we can hit the deadline, but I think we have to acknowledge that there've been some snags," Snow commented in a recent interview with a Florida-based radio show, adding: "We have to acknowledge that there's some work to be done here." Snow also indicated that the United States is not yet ready to lower or remove tariffs on imports until assurances are received from other nations that they intend to do likewise, and that the US is in no hurry to formulate new policies on the issue. "We're not going to unilaterally disarm, that's for sure. If our markets are going to be open, we need other markets open, and not just the markets of Latin America but the markets of the world, like Japan," the Treasury Secretary remarked.
