USAID LAC Trade Update - July/August 2004
A. NAFTA & Chile: A Record of Success
NAFTA - The North American Free Trade Agreement
A recent World Bank report for Latin American and Caribbean
countries on lessons from NAFTA reported the treaty “has
helped Mexico get closer to the levels of development of its
NAFTA partners.”
Other conclusions include:
- Without NAFTA, Mexico’s global exports would have
been about 25 percent lower;
- Without NAFTA, foreign direct investment would have been
about 40 percent lower; and
- The amount of time required for Mexican manufacturers
to adopt U. S. technological innovations was cut in half.
The report concluded: “Trade can probably take some
credit for moderate declines in poverty, and has likely had
positive impacts on the number and quality of jobs. However,
NAFTA is not enough to ensure economic convergence among North
American countries and regions. This reflects both limitations
of NAFTA’s design and, more importantly, pending domestic
reforms."
Source: "Lessons from NAFTA for Latin American and Caribbean,"
World Bank, 2003.
Chile
US-Chile Free Trade Agreement - The first
quarter reports since the U.S.–Chile Free Trade Agreement
went into effect on January 1, 2004 (and eliminated 90 percent
of US exports to Chile and 95 percent of Chilean exports to
the US) provide good news.
Chile’s Exports to the United States
Chilean exports to the U.S. grew 12 percent to $1.17 billion,
according to Chile’s Central Bank. Of this 10.4 percent
were industrial products, 39.6 were natural resources, and
50 percent were processed goods based on natural resources.
Chilean exports of raw materials and other goods used by U.S.
businesses to manufacture higher-value products also increased.
U.S. Exports to Chile
Exports to Chile, currently ranked as the 36th largest export
market for the U.S., increased by 24 percent from $617.29
million to $766.79 million compared to the same period of
2003. This contrasts favorably to an increase of 13 percent
in U.S. global exports in the first quarter of 2004.
U.S. exports of manufactured goods to Chile increased by
19.5 percent January/March 2004 from $570.9 million to $682.3
million. Particularly strong growth was registered in exports
of construction equipment, medical equipment, and paper products.
U.S. exports of agricultural goods grew 22.6 percent from
$22.66 million to $27.77 million.
Source: USTR
Trade Facts (6/04)
B. Trade Capacity Building (TCB) Roundup
USAID is active in a number of “Trade Capacity Building
(TCB) Working Groups” that strive to make trade capacity
building an integral part of the negotiation and implementation
of LAC country free trade agreements (FTAs) abd to assist
the countries to maximize the benefits of their participation
in these FTAs.
The following is an update on USAID’s participation
in “Trade Capacity Building Working Groups” in
the various ongoing FTA negotiations in this Hemisphere.
FTAA Hemispheric Cooperation Program (HCP)
– With the TNC having been in recess since its last
meeting in Puebla in February 2004, no meetings of the FTAA
Consultative Group on Smaller Economies have been held. The
CARICOM and Andean Community decided to postpone their respective
sub-regional HCP donor-country roundtables meetings until
a later date.
CAFTA Committee on Trade Capacity Building
– This committee held its first meeting in El Salvador
during the second week of May and discussed and identified
how resources can be mobilized to respond to the trade capacity
building needs articulated in Central American countries.
The Committee is next scheduled to meet in November. See the
final text of the CAFTA agreement. Section B of Chapter 19
on “Administration of the Agreement and Trade Capacity
Building” includes Article 19.4 on Committee on Trade
Capacity Building:
Dominican Republic and Panama FTA Negotiations
– Following negotiations of the U.S.-Dominican Republic
FTA, the membership of the CAFTA TCB Committee was expanded
to include the participation of the Dominican Republic.
Trade capacity building discussions between the U.S. and
Panama were held when U.S.-Panama FTA negotiation were launched
last April 26. They continued during Round 3 held in mid-July
in Panama.
Andean Trade Capacity Building Working Group
– This Working Group held its first meeting May 18-19
at the launch of the U.S.-Andean FTA negotiation in Cartagena,
Colombia. with a follow-up session last June in Atlanta, Georgia.
They focused on trade capacity building issues such as civil
society outreach and small business development. This group
will next meet during (July 26-28) in Lima, Peru.
Potential resource partners in attendance at the sessions
included the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB),
OAS Trade Unit, Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean (ECLAC), Andean Development Corporation (CAF),
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), US Trade and
Development Agency (USTDA), the Small Business Administration
(SBA), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
C. Trade Capacity Building Resources
TradeMap - Trade Statistics for International Business
Development – TradeMap, an online database
of product trade flows and market access barriers for international
business development, is available at no cost for a limited
time to anyone in a country where USAID has a mission or program.
It presents indicators on export performance, international
demand, alternative markets, and the role of competitors from
both the product and country perspective. Specifically it
covers the trade flows (values, quantities, trends, market
share, and unit values, both in graphic and tabular format)
of over 220 countries and territories, 41 country groups,
and 5,300 products defined at the 2, 4 or 6-digit level of
the Harmonized System (HS revision 1).
Access is available to USAID mission staff, local businesses,
government ministries, academics, NGOs, associations, and
any other interested individuals. To access TradeMap for free
until September 2005, go to the TradeMap
USAID portal. From the home page, click on “Get
your TradeMap USAID password” to register for a unique
username and password.
U.S. Government Trade Web Sites
D. Upcoming Events
July 23 and November 5 - World
Trade Institute “Importing Food & Agricultural Products”
Seminar – The one day seminars are designed to provide
participants with an understanding of new regulations and
regulatory issues surrounding importation of food and agricultural
products (e.g. beef, sugar, bananas, poultry, wheat) especially
as they pertain to bio-engineering of a broad variety of foodstuffs
and the the new FDA Anti-Bioterrorism Act.
August 9-13 - Fourth round of U.S. Panama
Negotiations in Washington, DC
August and September - Two Rural
Agroenterprise Development courses – Sponsored by
the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación
y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Turrialba, Costa Rica. The International
Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), will offer support.
Next year CATIE will offer two additional courses: “Entry
or Rural Enterprises to International Markets: Focus on the
Value Chain” and “Entrepreneurial Development
Services to Promote Rural Enterprise Competitiveness.”
See: International
Courses on Rural Agroenterprise Development.
September 13-17 - Fourth round of U.S.-Andean
FTA Negotiations (location to be determined)
October 25-29 - Fifth round of U.S.-Andean
FTA Negotiations (Guayaquil, Ecuador)
October 25-29 - CGIAR
Annual Meeting 2004 – The annual meeting of the
Consultative Group on International Agriculture (CGIAR) will
be held October 25-29, 2004, in Mexico City, Mexico. The meeting
will bring together over 1000 international and Mexican policy
makers, agricultural research experts, scientists, and development
specialists. For more information contact the CGIAR Secretariat,
tel: +1-202-473-8951; fax: +1-202-473-8110; e-mail: cgiar@cgiar.org
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