U.S. Working With Mexico to Address Export Audit Challenges
The U.S. government is working with the Mexican government to improve difficulties related to the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT) audits of goods exported to Mexico, said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis speaking at the U.S. Export-Import Bank conference in Washington. The U.S. government is engaged with the Mexican government to make the export process less onerous and prohibitive than it has been, said Marantis. A questioner in the audience described the audits as a non-tariff trade barrier.
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Lessons for KORUS
The U.S. has learned a number of lessons through NAFTA, which can then be applied to the as the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (KORUS), said Marantis. Those lessons can also be applied to the Trans-Pacific Partnership that is being negotiated right now, he said. Customs procedures are a very important feature of such agreements so that non-signatory countries aren't able to benefit. Where there's abuse within procedures, the U.S. will address it, as it is doing with Mexico, said Marantis.
KORUS Creates Strategic Benefit in Addition to Financial Benefit
Free Trade Agreements, such as KORUS, offer a strategic as well as economic opportunity, said Stanley Roth, vice president of international government relations at Boeing . KORUS allows the U.S. to maintain its momentum in Asia, where China has become the largest trade partner for many countries, said Roth. As China becomes more important to those Asian economies, it's important for the U.S. to remain a growing player in the region, he said.
Colombia, Panama FTA Implementation Timing Still Unclear
It remains unclear exactly when U.S.-approved trade agreements with Colombia and Panama would be implemented Marantis, who doesn't focus on Latin America and therefore may not have the most current information, said the U.S. is working hard to certify at he trade agreement with Colombia and Panama. Juan Sosa, president of the U.S.-Panama Business Council, noted Panamanian Minister for Commerce and Industry, Ricardo Quijano, had set an Oct. 1, 2012, goal for implementation of the agreement.
(On June 28, 2007, the U.S. and Panama signed an FTA that will liberalize trade in goods and make many U.S. exports to Panama duty-free. The FTA also includes disciplines relating to trade in services (including financial services), customs administration and trade facilitation, technical barriers to trade, government procurement, investment, telecommunications, electronic commerce, intellectual property rights, and labor and environmental protection. Panama approved the FTA on July 11, 2007. The Panama FTA Implementation Act was signed into law in the U.S. on October 21, 2011. See ITT's Online Archives 11101417 for summary stating that Panama has already ratified the FTA, and 11102103 for summary on President Obama signing Panama FTA Implementation Act into law.)