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TPA includes an innovative submissions process for public input

WASHINGTON, DC - 04/17/06 - The US and Peru have signed the United States - Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA), a comprehensive agreement that will eliminate tariffs and other barriers to goods and services and expand trade between the two nations.

The pact was signed late last week by US Trade Representative (USTR) Rob Portman (left) and Peruvian Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism Alfredo Ferrero Diez Canseco. 

When implemented, the agreement will render 80% of consumer and industrial products and more than two-thirds of current US farm exports to Peru duty-free immediately.

Over the coming years, Peru will continue to provide substantial market access to US goods, services and agricultural products by gradually eliminating all tariffs on US exports to Peru.

The PTPA will also provide a secure, predictable legal framework for US investors operating in Peru, provide for enforcement of quality labor and environmental standards, protect intellectual property rights (IPR), and install an effective dispute settlement process.

This is the second free trade agreement that includes an innovative public submissions process that will allow members of the public to raise concerns if they believe that a party to the agreement is failing to effectively enforce its environmental laws.

In 2005, US goods exports to Peru totaled nearly $2.3 billion, while two-way trade between the two countries amounted to $7.4 billion last year.

According to the USTR, the agreement will give US companies greater access to the Peruvian market for products such as machinery, mineral fuel, electrical machinery and plastics, along with meats and poultry, grains, oilseeds, dairy products, horticulture, processed products, and other agricultural products.

Many products from Peru already enter the US market duty-free under the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), which expires later this year.

In May 2004, the US initiated negotiations with three Andean nations - Peru, Colombia and Ecuador.

Talks with Peru concluded last December and negotiations with Colombia concluded on in February. Discussions are ongoing with Ecuador, while Bolivia has participated as an observer and could become part of the agreement at a later stage.

The US has significant economic ties to the region with two-way trade in goods with the Andean countries of Peru, Colombia and Ecuador amounting to about  $29.4 in 2005.

The countries comprised an important market for US goods exports totaling $9.7 billion that year with leading exports including machinery, organic chemicals, plastics, and cereals.
 
US exports of agricultural products to Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador totaled $1.0 billion in 2005. Leading US exports included wheat, coarse grains, cotton and soybeans.
 
Goods imports from Peru, Colombia and Ecuador totaled $19.7 billion in 2005 with US foreign direct investment (FDI) in the trio of countries reaching $7.7 billion in 2004.

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