USCIB welcomed the March 2 completion of a comprehensive U.S.-Morocco free trade agreement. It earlier voiced support for the U.S.-Australia FTA completed in February (see sidebar).
The March accord "will help forge closer commercial ties with Morocco," said USCIB Senior Vice President Timothy E. Deal. "Moreover, it will help lay the groundwork for more trade and investment with the Middle East and North Africa as a whole."
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said that, when ratified by both nations, the Morocco agreement would immediately eliminate duties on more than 95 percent of bilateral trade in industrial and consumer products, with all remaining tariffs to be scrapped within nine years. He called it the best market access package of any U.S. free trade agreement with a developing country.
The U.S.-Morocco FTA is especially timely, since global business leaders will gather in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh in June for the International Chamber of Commerce’s 35th World Congress.
USCIB said that the Morocco FTA’s comprehensive nature – including broad market access for all categories of goods, ambitious services liberalization, protection for intellectual property rights and commitments on foreign investment – met the high standards set by U.S. industry for such bilateral accords.
"It’s a top-notch agreement that raises the bar for future bilateral trade pacts," stated Mr. Deal.
In a related development, the 30-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development last month asked for business support in mobilizing investment in the Middle East and North Africa. USCIB members will provide input to this process through another overseas affiliate, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD.
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Praise for Australia FTA – USCIB also applauded February’s completion of the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement. "This is by far the most important bilateral free trade agreement we have undertaken in recent years, and by and large it will be a boon to U.S. exporters," said USCIB President Thomas Niles. The Australia pact marks the second U.S. FTA with an industrialized nation, after Canada in 1988. USCIB had joined other business groups in pressing for completion of the agreement despite last-minute complaints from some agricultural sectors. Australia is the United States’ 9th largest trading partner, with $28 billion in bilateral trade in 2002.
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