The United States-Ecuador Trade and Investment Council (TIC) plans to meet in the first half of 2024, announced Ecuador’s Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Sonsoles García, and Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai, who is this held a meeting in Washington last week.

Both bodies indicated that the Council will give priority to the aspects established under the Protocol on Trade Rules and Transparency. In addition, they agreed to develop a Dialogue on SMEs aimed at expanding their business opportunities in both economies. The United States is one of Ecuador’s main non-oil export destinations, covering about 1,500 products, highlighting shrimp, bananas, gold, natural flowers and canned fish. In 2022, exports without oil reached 4357 million dollars; while between January and September 2023 they amounted to 3.21 billion dollars.

Strengthening dialogue between Ecuador and the United States paves the way for a possible agreement

The Ecuador-United States Trade and Investment Council was established in 1990 and updated in 2021 with the Protocol on Trade Rules and Transparency, and includes high-standard provisions on customs administration and trade facilitation, good regulatory practices, anti-corruption and SME cooperation companies.

The last meeting of the TIC was held between February 15 and 16, 2022 in Guayaquil, where representatives of the delegation of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and officials of the Ministry of Production spoke about issues of agriculture, labor, environment and also cooperation issues. On that occasion, the US Embassy in Ecuador emphasized that both countries have strengthened bilateral trade cooperation in six areas: intellectual property; agriculture; market access; customs and trade concessions: labor, environment; and investment, services and digital commerce.

Finally, García and Ambassador Tai discussed Ecuador’s participation in the Association of the Americas for Economic Prosperity (APEP), which will strengthen regional cooperation and resilient supply chains, so they will stay in close contact to work on this initiative and others on shared business priorities. in the coming months.

Trade agenda in the United States

In the meantime, Minister García met with State Secretary Antony Blinken; and representatives of institutions such as the United States Chamber of Commerce, the United States-Ecuador Business Coalition, the Atlantic Council and, as far as the US Congress is concerned, with representatives from the House Ways and Means Committee and the House International Affairs Committee. For example, before the members of the Atlantic Council, the minister presented a road map for trade openness, investment attraction, security, employment and democracy.

Processing of the IDEA law with trade preferences for Ecuador is progressing in the United States: it is already in the House of Representatives of Congress

García also sought support for the approval of the Innovation and Development Act for Ecuador (IDEA Act), which would provide tariff preferences for more than 90% of the export supply that faces tariffs in the US market, especially for products such as broccoli. , flowers, tuna, fruits and vegetables.