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FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- (Senate - November 16, 2004) GPO's PDF
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Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the attached correspondence from the Executive Office of the President be printed in today's RECORD.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
Executive Office of the President, the United States Trade Representative,
Washington, DC, November 15, 2004.
Hon. TED STEVENS,
President Pro Tempore, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
DEAR SENATOR STEVENS: In accordance with section 2104(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 2002 (the Trade Act), and pursuant to authority delegated to me by the President, I am pleased to notify the Congress that the President intends to initiate negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We expect these negotiations to get underway in the beginning of 2005, and we will be consulting closely with the Congress over the next 90 days, as required by the Trade Act.
An FTA with the UAE will promote the President's initiative to advance economic reforms and openness in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, moving us closer to the creation of a Middle East Free Trade Area. A U.S.-UAE agreement will build on the FTAs that we already have with Israel, Jordan, and Morocco, as well as the FTA that we recently have signed with Bahrain, and will encourage the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to adopt standards that promote trade and investment. In 2003, the UAE had $4.6 billion in two-way trade with the United States, and the United States had a $2.4 billion trade surplus with the UAE. The UAE is an important strategic partner on a broad array of foreign and national security issues.
This FTA will directly benefit the United States. By reducing and eliminating barriers to trade, a comprehensive FTA with the UAE will generate export opportunities for U.S. companies, farmers, and ranchers, help create jobs in the United States, and help American consumers save money while offering them more choices. The UAE already provides an attractive market for U.S. products, and is a regional transportation and business hub in the Gulf and the Middle East. The UAE's Jebel Ali port is the third busiest port in the world, with excellent growth opportunities. In 2003, U.S. businesses exported $3.5 billion worth of products in such areas as machinery, aircraft, vehicles, electrical machinery, and optical and medical instruments. Agriculture exports from the United States totaled $259 million during the same period. The United States' trade relationship with the UAE is the third largest in the Middle East, behind only Israel and Saudi Arabia.
An FTA will provide new export opportunities for U.S. services firms in sectors such as telecommunications, finance, distribution, energy, construction, engineering, health care, legal services, accounting, tourism and travel, and environmental services. An FTA will also support the UAE's commitment to transparency, openness, and the rule of law, thereby enhancing respect for intellectual property, labor rights, and environmental protection. An FTA will also allow the United States to work more closely with UAE customs and port authorities that manage Jebel Ali and other transshipment points, an important opportunity for cooperation similar to that provided by our FTA with Singapore and the agreement we are negotiating with Panama.
Last year, the UAE entered into a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the United States. Since signing the TIFA, the UAE has demonstrated a serious commitment to free trade. It has become a party to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty, and has pledged to join the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
Our initial consultations with the Congress, including with the Congressional Oversight Group on September 8, 2004, indicate broad bipartisan interest in an FTA with the UAE. Following these consultations, I visited the UAE to discuss with top officials the topics covered in our comprehensive FTAs, to identify particular areas for work, and to assess the UAE's commitment to moving forward with an FTA. I came back with a strong sense of the UAE's interest in connecting the FTA to their plans for development, growth and openness. The UAE interest in an FTA also complements The 9/11 Commission Report recommendation urging the United States to expand trade with the Middle East as a way to ``encourage development, more open societies, and opportunities for people to improve the lives of their families.''
The rest is here:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r108:16:./temp/~r108eC8eBM:: |
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