Free Trade Agreement of Americas


The United States is offering to eliminate within five years all tariffs on textiles and apparel from other Western hemisphere countries as part of a proposed regional free trade agreement.

Announced on 11 February 2003 by US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, the proposal is intended to get things moving on plans to expand the existing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to all countries in the hemisphere, with the exception of Cuba. Its aim is the eventual elimination of duties on the trade in goods and services throughout North and South America.

Eliminating tariffs on textile and apparel is conditional upon other countries being willing to do the same, but is still likely to draw protests from the US industry. Countries likely to benefit from the deal exported almost $21 billion of textiles and apparel to the US last year.

The plan is to achieve expansion by 2005, the same time as year as quotas on textile and apparel imports are to be eliminated under the WTO.

 

 

Back to Index of June 2003