Panama and the United States Soon to Be Free-Trade Partners
The long-awaited free-trade agreement between the United States and Panama should go into effect sometime in October, according to government sources.
At a recent meeting at the Apparel Sourcing Show in Guatemala City, the assistant U.S. trade representative for textiles, Gail Strickler, noted that everyone in Washington, D.C., anticipated the trade pact to be up and running in October.
The trade accord was signed into law by Congress last Oct. 21, but certain tax transparency issues in Panama had to be resolved. Panama has also changed a number of regulatory barriers to trade in agricultural goods.
Panama’s economy has been particularly robust in recent years, especially with the $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal, which should be completed during the latter half of 2014.
Panama has one of the region’s fastestgrowing economies, with an estimated 7.4 percent rise of the country’s gross domestic product in 2011.
Over 87 percent of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products to Panama will become duty-free immediately. Currently, the average tariff on goods going into Panama is 7 percent.
The leading U.S. exports to Panama include refined petroleum products (41 percent), general machinery (9 percent), electrical machinery (7 percent) and aircraft (7 percent).
The main Panamanian exports to the United States include seafood (23 percent), gold (6 percent), fruit (5 percent) and sugar (5 percent).
U.S. exports of apparel and textiles to Panama have risen rapidly. In 2011, the United States exported $63.4 million in apparel and textiles to the Central American nation, compared with $37.5 million in 2008.
Top U.S. textile and apparel exports to Panama include fabric; men’s and boys’ suits, trousers and shorts; women’s and girls’ slacks, shorts, pants and dresses; accessories; infant wear; undergarments; floor coverings; curtains and drapes; and bedroom furnishings.
Tariffs on U.S. apparel and textile products into Panama average 6.7 percent but will be mostly duty-free for goods made from regional yarns.
The United States imported $1.83 billion in apparel and textiles from Panama in 2011, but much of that entered duty-free because of Panama’s membership in the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, which expires in 2020. —Deborah Belgum
