In the House of Representatives of the United States of America this Tuesday, November 14, 2023, the so-called Innovation and Development Act in Ecuador, known as IDEA, was presented, with which the country would have trade privileges with this important trading partner.

The Embassy of Ecuador in the United States announced that Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chair María Elvira Salazar and Representative Adriano Espaillat introduced this bill establishing the benefits program.

The United States could cut tariffs on nearly 50% of Ecuadorian exports under legislation introduced in the Senate

President Guillermo Lasso commented that this is one of the initiatives on which his government has placed great emphasis: “We are negotiating with senators, congressmen, businessmen and with President Joe Biden himself. I thank Congressmen Salazar and Espaillat for presenting the proposal in the chamber. “That’s great news for Ecuador.”

In a statement issued by the office of the congresswoman from Washington, it is stated that they are joined in this bill by representatives Warren Davidson, Vern Buchanan and Rubén Gallego.

This adds that Ecuadorian imports to the United States totaled $11.04 billion in 2022 alone, making the health of the Ecuadorian economy important to US interests. We must do more to strengthen this trading partnership. “Ecuador is suffering an unprecedented economic and security crisis.” “Ecuador needs a boost to its economy to get back on track. “My bill will provide much-needed stability to one of the United States’ most important allies in the region,” Salazar said.

While Espaillat claimed that this project will help support the allied nation “whose population is currently suffering from increased violence, poverty and instability, which has led to the mass migration of Ecuadorians to the United States in recent years. Our bill will help reduce the prices of products from Ecuador while helping to stop the root causes of mass migration from Ecuador.”

Lasso pointed out that when this law is approved, 96% of Ecuadorian products exported to the United States will have tariff preferences.

Ecuador is rallying support in the United States to pass legislation that would drop tariffs on 99% of its exports to zero

The Ecuador-American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor) pointed out that this step was added to the one taken last March in the Senate with the presentation of the IDEA bill: now that it is presented in both cases, an important step has been taken and the process has been accelerated approval of tariff preferences for Ecuador in the North American legislative environment.

If this law is approved in the coming months, it will allow duty-free access to more than 99.7% of Ecuador’s non-oil exports to the United States.

They show that the inclusion of Ecuador as a beneficiary of the IDEA law will strengthen Ecuadorian exports, mainly from small and medium-sized enterprises, by allowing nearly $3,000 million to enter the United States duty-free, as well as the inclusion of 5,769 tariff subheadings.

The proposal grants Ecuador the benefits of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, duty-free entry into the United States for certain products, and other benefits provided for in the Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership Act.