| Benefits
of the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement |
New Opportunities for U.S. Workers and Manufacturers: More than
80 percent of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial goods will become
duty-free in Central America immediately, with remaining tariffs phased
out over 10 years. Key U.S. export sectors will benefit, such as information
technology products, agricultural and construction equipment, paper products,
chemicals, and medical and scientific equipment.
Expanded Markets for U.S. Farmers and Ranchers: More than half of
current U.S. farm exports to Central America will become duty-free immediately,
including high quality cuts of beef, cotton, wheat, soybeans, key fruits
and vegetables, processed food products, and wine, among others. Tariffs
on most remaining U.S. farm products will be phased out within 15 years.
U.S. farm products that will benefit from improved market access include
pork, beef, poultry, rice, fruits and vegetables, corn, processed products
and dairy products.
Textiles and Apparel: Textiles and apparel will be duty-free and
quota-free immediately if they meet the Agreement’s rule of origin,
promoting new opportunities for U.S. and Central American fiber, yarn,
fabric and apparel manufacturing. The agreement’s benefits for textiles
and apparel will be retroactive to January 1, 2004. An unprecedented provision
will give duty-free benefits to some apparel made in Central America that
contains certain fabrics from NAFTA partners Mexico and Canada. This provision
encourages integration of the North and Central American textile industries,
and is a step to prepare for an increasingly competitive global market.
Access to Services: The Central American countries will accord
substantial market access across their entire services regime, offering
new access in sectors such as telecommunications, express delivery, computer
and related services, tourism, energy, transport, construction and engineering,
financial services, insurance, audio/visual and entertainment, professional,
environmental, and other sectors. Central American countries have agreed
to change “dealer protection regimes” and loosen restrictions
that lock U.S. firms into exclusive or inefficient distributor arrangements.
A Trade Agreement for the Digital Age: State-of-the-art protections
and non-discriminatory treatment are provided for digital products such
as U.S. software, music, text, and videos. Protections for U.S. patents,
trademarks and trade secrets are strengthened.
Strong Protections for Worker Rights: Goes beyond Chile and Singapore
FTAs to create a three-part strategy on worker rights that will ensure
effective enforcement of domestic labor laws, establish a cooperative
program to improve labor laws and enforcement, and build the capacity
of Central American nations to monitor and enforce labor rights.
An Innovative Environment Chapter: Goes beyond Chile and Singapore
FTAs in seeking to develop a robust public submissions process to ensure
that views of civil society are appropriately considered, and for benchmarking
of environmental cooperation activities and input from international organizations.
Strong Protections for U.S. Investors: The agreement establishes
a secure, predictable legal framework for U.S. investors in Central America.
Open and Fair Government Procurement: Provides ground-breaking anti-corruption
measures in government contracting. U.S. firms are guaranteed a fair and
transparent process to sell goods and services to a wide range of Central
American government entities.
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The
answer is jobs. Good American jobs. The kind we can raise a family
on.