U.S. and Morocco Reach Agreement on a Free Trade Agreement
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a press release announcing that on March 2, 2004, the U.S. and Morocco reached agreement on a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA).
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According to the USTR, the U.S.-Morocco FTA is part of President Bush's strategy to create a Middle East FTA by 2013. The USTR notes that the U.S. currently has FTAs with Israel and Jordan and launched negotiations with Bahrain in early 2004.
Highlights of U.S.-Morocco FTA Provisions
The USTR describes the provisions of the U.S.-Morocco FTA as follows (partial list):
More than 95% of bilateral trade in consumer/industrial products becomes duty-free immediately. More than 95% of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products will become duty-free immediately, with all remaining duties eliminated within nine years. This is the best market access package negotiated yet with a developing country in a U.S. bilateral FTA.
Textiles and apparel will be duty-free if they meet FTA rule of origin. Under the U.S.-Morocco FTA, textile and apparel trade will be duty-free if imports meet the FTA's rule of origin, promoting new opportunities for U.S. and Moroccan fiber, yarn, fabric, and apparel manufacturing. In addition, the U.S.-Morocco FTA requires qualifying apparel to contain either U.S. or Moroccan yarn and fabric and contains a temporary 30,000,000 m2 allowance for apparel containing "third country" content.
Expanded markets for U.S. agricultural products. The U.S.-Morocco FTA covers all agricultural products. U.S. poultry, beef, and wheat will benefit from greater access under tariff-rate quotas; tariffs on corn, sorghum, and soybeans will be cut significantly or eliminated immediately; and processed foods, nuts, and horticultural products will gain significant new market access.
Tariffs on virtually all U.S. farm exports to Morocco will be phased-out within 15 years and the U.S. will phase-out all agricultural tariffs under the U.S.-Morocco FTA, most in 15 years. An agricultural safeguard will be available in the event of significant price decreases for certain horticultural products.
Transparent and efficient Customs procedures. The U.S.-Morocco FTA requires transparency and efficiency in customs administration, including publication of laws and regulations on the Internet and procedural certainty and fairness.
Both the U.S. and Morocco agree to share information to combat illegal transshipment of goods. In addition, the FTA requires customs procedures designed to facilitate the rapid clearance through customs of express delivery shipments. Strong but simple rules of origin will ensure that only U.S. and Moroccan goods benefit from the FTA and that those rules are designed to be easy to administer and are consistent with other U.S. FTAs in the region.
Commitments to open services market. Morocco will accord substantial market access across its entire services regime, subject to very few exceptions. The key services sectors covered by the FTA include express delivery, audiovisual, telecommunications, computer and related services, distribution, and construction and engineering.
Protections and non-discriminatory treatment for digital products. 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, copyrights, and trade secrets follow the high standards of U.S. bilateral FTAs.
No Customs duties on digital products. Both the U.S. and Morocco have committed to non-discriminatory treatment of digital products and agree not to impose customs duties on digital products. For digital products delivered on hard media (such as a DVD or CD), customs duties will be based on the value of the media (e.g., the disc), not on the value of the movie, music, or software contained on the disc.
Tough penalties for piracy and counterfeiting. The U.S.-Morocco FTA requires each government to criminalize end-user piracy, providing strong deterrence against piracy and counterfeiting. Both the U.S. and Morocco commit to having and maintaining authority to seize, forfeit, and destroy counterfeit and pirated goods and the equipment used to produce them. In addition, intellectual property rights (IPR) laws will be enforced against goods-in-transit, deterring violators from using U.S. or Moroccan ports or free-trade zones to traffic in pirated goods.
USTR press release (04-15, dated 03/02/04) available at
http://www.ustr.gov/releases/2004/03/04-15.pdf.
USTR fact sheet (dated 03/02/04) available at
http://www.ustr.gov/new/fta/Morocco/2004-03-02-factsheet.pdf.