The expanded Andean trade preferences Act and a U.S. free trade agreement with its beneficiaries.

AuthorKornis, Magda
PositionINTERNATIONAL TRADE DEVELOPMENTS

As the United States begins negotiations with Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia for a United States-Andean free trade agreement, 86 percent of combined U.S. imports from these countries are already free of duty. For these Andean countries, the principal reason for desiring this trade agreement is to ensure that their preferential access to the U.S. market becomes permanent, thus it will contribute to more stable economic conditions and foreign investment inflows.

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In May, 2004, the United States launched negotiations in Cartagena, Colombia, towards a possible free trade agreement (FTA) with Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, hoping to include Bolivia at a later stage. (2) These four Andean countries already enjoy duty-free treatment for 86 percent of their combined export value to the United States, including the duty-free privileges they have been granted by the expanded Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) in 2002. (3)

The original ATPA had been in effect since the early 1990s. The program expired on December 4, 2001, and was renewed and expanded by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) on August 6, 2002. ATPDEA, which extended duty-free treatment to petroleum and petroleum derivatives, certain apparel, footwear, luggage, handbags, and some other imports from the beneficiaries that had been excluded under the original ATPA, was implemented on October 31, 2002. The expanded ATPA is scheduled to expire on December 6, 2006. (4)

Although this article will profile the major characteristics of U.S.-Andean trade, it focuses predominantly on the duty treatment of the Andean trade flow to the United States.

Principal Characteristics of U.S. Trade With ATPA Countries

U.S. trade with ATPA countries is relatively small. ATPA countries combined received 1 percent of total U.S. exports and provided 0.9 percent of total U.S. imports in 2003 (table 1); nonetheless, they were major U.S. suppliers of certain products, including copper, asparagus, and flowers.

Since 1999, U.S. data have shown a collective U.S. deficit in merchandise trade with ATPA countries. (5) In 2003, this deficit was the largest on record, amounting to $5.1 billion (table 1, figure 1). The United States registered a trade deficit vis-a-vis each ATPA country, except Peru. U.S. imports from the region also reached record amounts in 2003, at $11.6 billion. In contrast, U.S. exports to ATPA countries, at $6.5 billion, remained largely unchanged since 1999, the year in which they dropped 28 percent from their 1998 value. In recent years, a continued volatile political environment, poor economic performance, and the weakness of exchange rates for several ATPA-country currencies depressed the region's demand for U.S. exports.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

A major portion of U.S. trade with ATPA countries is related to petroleum and natural gas. On the U.S. export side, even though machinery, equipment, and parts account for some two-thirds of total U.S. exports to ATPA countries, a large portion of such exports is destined for use in the region's petroleum and natural gas sectors. In addition, two leading U.S. export products to the region are refined petroleum products--fuel oils and lubricating oils.

Petroleum and its derivatives accounted for over 40 percent of U.S. imports from ATPA countries in the last four years. In 2003, as petroleum and derivatives had become free of duty under ATPDEA for the entire year, their imports were responsible for over ninety percent of the 2003 U. S. trade deficit with ATPA countries, and came to constitute almost 60 percent of U.S. imports under the expanded ATPA. (6) The newly duty-free status of petroleum and derivatives from ATPA countries under ATPDEA was also responsible for most of the contraction in the dutiable value of U.S. imports and U.S. duty revenues from ATPA countries, as shown in table 1.

Duty Treatment of U.S. Imports from ATPA Countries

Record U.S. imports from ATPA countries in 2003 resulted from a stronger U.S. economy than in the previous two years, the strength of the U.S. dollar in terms of most ATPA-country currencies, and higher oil prices. Most important, U.S. demand for the products of ATPA countries was boosted by the steep decline in...

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