The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has taken the opportunity of the presence of US President, Barack Obama in Latin American nations to call for the commencement of trade negotiations between the two continents and the United States, noting that conditions are now right.

The statement from ECLAC comes alongside the publication of a report, ‘The United States and Latin America and the Caribbean: Highlights of Economics and Trade’ which was commissioned to coincide with the visit of the US President, Barack Obama to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador. The report in particular focuses on the recent trends in investment and trade relations between the regions and the United States, as well as advancing proposals for a relaunch of trade negotiations.

The United States' share of regional foreign trade has decreased over the past decade. In terms of exports, there was a fall from 59.7% in 2000 to 40.1% in 2009, while in terms of imports there was a drop from 49.3% to 31.2% in the same period. That being said, the United States remains the main individual trading partner for Latin America and the Caribbean. This decrease has been compensated for by increased trade with China, but the regions’ exports remain more diversified to the United States than to the European Union and Asia.

According to the ECLAC document, while the region's countries exported an average of 1,197 products to the United States in 2008-2009, they exported only 878 products to the 27 European Union countries, 511 products to Asia as a whole and 202 products to China.

In addition, the United States continues to be the main individual investor in the region, accounting for 34.7% of cumulative foreign direct investment flows received by the region between 1999 and 2009.

"The current tour of President Barack Obama to three Latin American countries offers an unmissable opportunity to renew hemispheric relations. What the region expects from the United States are proposals for a strategic dialogue and new initiatives in the field of trade and investment in order to strengthen mutual cooperation", stated the Executive Secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena, in the foreword to the document.

Despite Latin American and Caribbean economic buoyancy over the past decade, the United States has not had a comprehensive trade strategy for the region in recent years. In particular, the free-trade agreements concluded with Colombia in 2006 and Panama in 2007 have not yet been submitted to the United States Congress for approval.

Furthermore, the tariff preference programmes for Andean and other regional countries are currently suspended. In this context, closer trade relations have been forged with the European Union and Asia-Pacific by means of trade agreements and association agreements.

According to ECLAC, new cooperation relations should include the speedy approval of pending free-trade agreements and the renewal of preferences for Andean and other regional countries.

There should also, says ECLAC, be a joint commitment to work towards concluding the World Trade Organization Doha Round in 2011, opening a strategic dialogue between the United States and the region's countries that are part of the Group of 20, and establishing an integrated economic cooperation programme.

Source: tax-news.com

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