With the purpose of achieving tariff preferences in order for Ecuadorian products to enter the American market under better conditions, the president Guillermo Lasso held three high-level meetings in Washington, Tuesday, September 26, to promote the proposal Innovation and Development Act in Ecuador (IDEA).

The first meeting was with Senator Ron Wyden, chairman of the United States Senate Finance Committee. The second date was with Congressmen Michael McCaul, Sydney Kamlager-Dove and Keith Self, members of the Foreign Relations Committee of the US House of Representatives. And the third dialogue was with the members House Committee on Ways and Means.

Lasso shared brief details about the dates on social media. He reported that Senator Wyden recognized the work of Ecuador in the “permanent defense of free trade” and indicated that the US official promised to “bring Ecuador’s voice to the Senate Finance Committee, so that the country is considered a candidate to benefit from the IDEA law.

From the conversation with the congressmen, the president pointed out that McCaul, Kamlager-Dovw and Self “come with good eyes” a request from the Ecuadorian government to approve the law.

Then, the last conversation the president had to gather support was in United States Congress with six members of the House Ways and Means Committee: Republicans Jason Smith (committee chairman), Adrian Smith, Elizabeth Ann Van Duyne, Michael Todd Whitaker Carey, Michelle Fsichbach and Democrat Jimmy Panetta.

Lasso emphasized at every meeting that the inclusion of Ecuador would result “at least 90% of products exported to the US will not pay customs duties”.

“Our economies are complementary and they can be strengthened by the approval of this law, and thus the development of our economy, creating greater employment opportunities for Ecuadorians,” the president commented.

The three meetings were part of the official program held by Guillermo Lasso in the United States of America since September 17, as part of the High Level Week of the United Nations General Assembly.

What is IDEA law?

Innovation and Development Law Proposal in Ecuador (IDEA) was introduced in the United States Senate on March 22, 2023 Senators Bob Menéndez and Jim Risch. Menéndez is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Risch is the ranking member.

The standard asks incorporate the country as a beneficiary of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Actan initiative created 40 years ago that currently benefits 17 countries tariff preferences unilateral measures to enter the American market.

The bill was preceded by the fact that in December 2022 the US Congress approved the United States-Ecuador Bipartisan Association Act.

According to a statement issued by the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee in March of this year, The IDEA law would allow:

On the other hand, the Ecuadorian-American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) highlighted, in a statement dated September 25, at least five advantages of the project:

Furthermore, according to information from Amcham, With IDEA, 99.7% of non-oil exports would enter the United States duty-free.