Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 2738 - United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(House)

(Rep. Delay (R) TX and Rep. Rangel (D) NY)

The Administration strongly supports H.R. 2738, which will implement the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as signed by the United States and Chile on June 6, 2003.

The U.S.-Chile FTA advances U.S. national economic interests and meets the negotiating principles and objectives set out by Congress in the Trade Act of 2002. It provides increased market access for American goods and services in Chile, and it provides lower-cost U.S. producer and consumer access to Chilean goods and services in a manner that is not disruptive to the U.S. economy.

This agreement successfully incorporates new approaches to rules pertaining to e-commerce, procurement, investment, and other areas that were articulated in the Trade Act of 2002. It reduces barriers for services, protects leading-edge intellectual property, keeps pace with new technologies and new ways of doing business and ensures regulatory transparency. The agreement also opens long-restricted markets for U.S. beef and pork, as well as eventually eliminating the restrictions affecting U.S. wheat exports.

The U.S.-Chile FTA sets the standard in Latin America for progressively opening other countries' economies and points the way to a hemisphere united by economic opportunity, freedom, the rule of law, and democracy. It levels the playing field for U.S. businesses that have been forced to compete with companies from Europe and elsewhere that have enjoyed favored market access in Chile.