Соглашение США-Перу Trade Promotion

The recent Senate Finance Committee hearing on the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement is an encouraging sign that Congress is moving forward on completed agreements that have not been voted on. The agreement was signed in April of 2006 and is covered by the May 2007 agreement on labor and environmental issues in free trade agreements between the Administration and Democratic leaders. Committee Chairman Baucus (D-MT) noted in his opening remarks, “For the first time in any trade agreement, the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement includes meaningful, and fully enforceable, labor and environmental protections.”

Peru is not a big market with a population of 29 million people increasing about 1.3 percent per year in an area slightly smaller than Alaska. It is surrounded by five countries – Bolivia, Бразилия, Чили, Columbia and Ecuador. Соединенные штаты. has a free trade agreement with Chile and has negotiated one with Columbia. Соединенные штаты. is on good terms with Brazil, but has strained relations on economic policies with Bolivia and Ecuador. Peru is part of a larger U.S. effort to strengthen economic relationships with countries in South America.

Peru’s GDP was $77 млрд 2006 on an official exchange rate basis and $187 billion on purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, with yearly real growth averaging over 4 процентов за 2002-06. Per capita GDP was $6,600 (PPP), about half of Chile’s $12,700, behind Brazil at $8,800 and Columbia at $8,600 and higher than Ecuador at $4,500 and Bolivia’s $3,100. Agriculture has 9 процент рабочей силы, промышленность 18 percent and services 73 процентов. Despite a 7 percent unemployment rate around Lima, the capital with one-third of the population and 60 percent of the national income, there is widespread underemployment, with half the population living below the poverty line. Reliance on minerals and metal mining subjects the economy to swings in metals prices. Соединенные штаты. accounts for about 25 percent of Peruvian exports and 20 процент импорта. The International Trade Commission estimated that total U.S. exports to Peru would increase by 25 percent with the agreement and imports by 8 процентов.

Current agricultural trade policy is asymmetrical. Над 99 percent of Peru’s agricultural exports to the U.S., $602 млн в календарном году 2006, entered duty free under the Andean Trade Preference Act of 1991 and the Andean Trade Preference and Drug Eradication Act of 2002. These preferences are made permanent in the new agreement. Только 2 процентов из $209 million of U.S. agricultural exports to Peru entered duty free. Ориентированных на потребителя продукции приходится 67 percent of the imports to the U.S., $403 миллиона, с $338 million of that fruits and vegetables. The major bulk commodity exports were unroasted coffee at $120 миллион и сахар в $39 миллиона.
Bulk commodity exports from the U.S. to Peru totaled $112 млн 2006, 54 процент от общего экспорта. Coarse grains and cotton were the leaders at $44 миллион и $43 миллиона, соответственно. Wheat exports were $151 млн 2004 and declined to $19 млн 2006 because of strong price competition from Canada and Argentina. Intermediate agricultural exports of $57 миллиона, 27 процентов от общего, were led by soybean oil at $15 million and other vegetable oils at $10 миллиона. Consumer-oriented products accounted for the remaining 19 процент экспорта, $40 миллиона. Dairy product sales were $12 million followed by snack foods at $9 миллиона.

Under the agreement about 90 percent of current U.S. exports will be immediately tariff free. These include cotton, пшеница, соевые бобы, соевая мука, crude soybean oil, высокое качество говядины, яблоки, груши, персики, вишни, almonds, and foods like frozen French fries, cookies and snack foods. Tariffs on pork will be phased out over five to ten years. Tariff rate quotes (TRQ) are created for corn, рис, dairy products and over 30 other products to replace variable tariffs (price bands) that can be as high as Peru’s WTO bound tariff of 68 процентов. Other tariffs will be phased out over 2-17 year transition periods. TRQs will expand and over-quota tariffs decline over 10 years for beef variety meats, yellow corn and refined soybean oil; 12 years for standard quality beef; 15 years for butter, yogurt and dairy products; и 17 years for rice, сухое молоко, cheese and chicken leg quarters.

Increased trade will be a two-way street with the U.S. accepting more imports for commodities now protected with TRQ. Processed dairy products will have expanding TRQ for 15 years and cheese and condensed/evaporated milk for 17 лет. The current sugar TRQ of 43,175 метрических тонн (Монтана) will be increased by 9,000 MT in the first year and then by 180 MT per year in perpetuity. The extra TRQ can only be used in years when Peru has a sugar trade surplus. Organic sugar has a separate annual 2,000 MT TRQ. The 26-percent tariff on beef imports to the U.S. will be phased out over 15 лет.

Peru would continue to recognize the equivalence of the U.S. meat inspection system and fully open markets to U.S. poultry and products from all states. Consistent with international standards, Peru will permit imports of all U.S. beef and beef products, except high risk materials. An SPS Committee will be established to expedite resolution of technical issues.

Except for 99 percent of Peru’s agricultural exports already entering the U.S. тариф бесплатный, there is nothing special about the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. Like many developing countries, Peru created high tariffs on agricultural products at a time when trade policy was mostly focused on protecting domestic production. With a growing middle class, lower transportation costs and comparative advantages in production in other countries, trade policy has to unwind the protectionist barriers of the past. Transition periods of up to 17 years are not good economics, but in the end, this agreement opens markets and that is good for producers and consumers in both countries.