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FACT SHEET:
U.S.–Panama Trade Promotion Agreement
September 2008
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The United States concluded free trade negotiations with Panama on
December 19, 2006. This comprehensive trade agreement will eliminate
tariffs and other barriers to goods and services, promote economic
growth, and enhance trade between the United States and Panama.
- Panama is already an important market for America’s farmers and
ranchers. In 2007, the United States exported a record $304 million
of agricultural products to Panama. Our top exports to the market
were coarse grains, soybean meal, wheat, processed fruits and
vegetables, and snack foods.
- With the Agreement in place, agricultural trade between the
United States and Panama will change from a one-way street to a
two-way street.
Currently, less than 40 percent of U.S. agricultural exports
enjoy duty-free access to the Panamanian market; while under the
Caribbean Basin Initiative, over 99 percent of Panama’s
agricultural exports enter the U.S. market duty free.
- Many agricultural commodities will benefit from the agreement as
more than half of current U.S. farm exports to Panama will become
duty-free immediately and the most of the remaining tariffs will be
eliminated within 15 years.
Upon implementation of the agreement, U.S. agricultural
exports will receive duty-free treatment on nearly 63 percent of
current trade and will see all tariffs phased out for the
remaining products. Panama’s preferential treatment will be made
permanent.
Panama will immediately eliminate duties on high quality
beef, frozen turkeys, sorghum, soybeans, soybean meal, crude
soybean and corn oil, almost all fruit products, wheat, peanuts,
whey, cotton and many processed products.
The agreement also provides duty-free tariff rate quotas on
standard beef cuts, chicken leg quarters, pork, corn, rice, and
dairy products.
- On the regulatory side, Panama has put in place OIE-consistent
import measures on meat and poultry and addressed other SPS and
technical standards issues. Panama has agreed to recognize the
equivalence of the U.S. meat and poultry inspection systems.
- In addition, the Agreement commits the United States to
prioritizing Panama for trade capacity building programs to assist
Panama in fully benefiting from this new partnership.
- The American Farm Bureau Federation predicts that this
agreement, once fully implemented, could provide $195 million in
gains each year for American agriculture. In addition, the free
trade agreement with Panama is supported by over 40 U.S.
agricultural and food associations.
For questions about the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement and its
impact on U.S. agriculture, please contact FAS Legislative and Public
Affairs Office at (202)720-7115 or LPA@fas.usda.gov.
U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement Page
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