As the regional trade talks between the U.S. and five Central American countries come down to the wire, apparel and textile issues are heating up.

Trade negotiators view resolving agriculture and textile and apparel issues politically sensitive sectors in all of the countries involved in the Central American Free Trade Agreement as critical. "Cumulation", a proposal which would loosen rules that govern qualifying inputs for textiles and apparel, is becoming an important topic in the talks.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick will be in Central America through Friday and is slated to meet with his counterparts from the five countries today in El Salvador to discuss the current state of the talks, which they all hope to complete by the end of the year.

Trade negotiators will also hold a special meeting here to discuss textiles and apparel Oct.7-8 in advance of a crucial meeting of ministers in Houston, Texas the week of Oct.20.

CAFTA has taken on a heightened sense of urgency for the Bush Administration, which is trying to recover from a major setback in its trade agenda with the collapse of global trade talks in Cancun over two weeks ago.