Panama Trade Promotion Agreement

The United States and Panama signed a trade promotion agreement, sometimes called a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), on June 28, 2007. Panama approved the TPA on July 11, 2007. The United States has not yet approved the TPA.

U.S.-Panama FTA is a comprehensive free trade agreement that can result in significant liberalization of trade in goods and services, including financial services. It also includes important disciplines relating to customs administration and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, government procurement, investment, telecommunications, electronic commerce, intellectual property rights, and labor and environmental protection.

U.S. firms will have better access to Panama's services sector than it provides to other WTO Members under the General Agreement on Tarrifs in Services. All services sectors are covered under the agreement except where Panama has made specific exceptions. Moreover, Panama agreed to become a full participant in the WTO Information Technology Agreement.

Panama has also entered into a bilateral agreement with the United States resolving a number of regulatory barriers to trade in agricultural goods ranging from meat and poultry to processed products, including dairy and rice. USTR is currently working to address outstanding issues regarding the Panama FTA, including labor and tax policies.