US to extend low tariff regime for Andean nations



Negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate agreed on the ATPDEA extension, a compromise between opposing proposals from the two chambers. The House bill would have extended the preferences for six months only for Peru and Colombia, which have agreed to bilateral deals with US trade officials. A bipartisan Senate bill proposed to grant all four countries a one-year extension. Most Peruvian goods enter the United States tariff-free under the Andean Trade Preference Act, granted in return for anti-drug cooperation. The original agreement with Peru expires in December, but was renewed when the new trade pact was not ratified. The new free trade agreement was negotiated during the term of President Alejandro Toledo, the Peace Corps President and supported in the Senate by RPCV Chris Dodd.

US to extend low tariff regime for Andean nations

US to extend low tariff regime for Andean nations

By Hal Weitzman in Lima

Published: December 9 2006 02:00 | Last updated: December 9 2006 02:00

The US Congress was yesterday expected to extend a low-tariff regime for four Andean countries, giving them six months to secure permanent bilateral trade deals with Washington.

The Bush administration had proposed a year-long extension of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) - a package of trade preferences for Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia which had been due to expire at the end of the month.

The future of the policy had been in doubt since the Democrats won control of Congress last month. Many in the Andean region feared that when the new Congress comes in next month, anti-trade Democrats would kill off proposed trade agreements with South American countries.

Negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate on Thursday night agreed on the ATPDEA extension, a compromise between opposing proposals from the two chambers. The House bill would have extended the preferences for six months only for Peru and Colombia, which have agreed bilateral deals with US trade officials. A bipartisan Senate bill proposed to grant all four countries a one-year extension.

Congress acted after Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, weighed in on the issue this week, urging lawmakers to renew the policy.

"By not extending the ATPDEA, trade relations would deteriorate between the US and our Andean partners," she said. "There is a strong possibility that thousands of jobs will be lost to Asia, possibly China, if this extension isn't granted."

Evo Morales, the leftwing president of Bolivia, currently hosting a summit of regional leaders in the city of Cochabamba, dismissed the six-month deadline.

"I have talked a lot with some presidents from South America and they literally said that, if at some point [Washington] cuts off these tariff preferences, they'll be ready to buy from us what we sell to the US," he said.

There was also a dismissive reaction from Rafael -Correa, the Ecuadorean left-winger who won last month's presidential election in part on a platform of refusing to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with the US.

Mr Correa rejected what he termed the US Congress's "threat", saying the ATPDEA was not charity but "compensation for the war on drugs" the countrieswere fighting on behalf of the US.

Congress's trade package also includes measures extending normal trade status to Vietnam and extending trade packages with Haiti and sub-Saharan Africa.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: December, 2006; Friends: Alejandro Toledo; Figures; Peace Corps Peru; Directory of Peru RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Peru RPCVs; Politics

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