Bush's MEFTA Vision Comes A Step Closer With Omani Free Trade Deal

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

23 January 2006

US Trade Representative Rob Portman and Omani Minister of Commerce and Industry Maqbool bin Ali Sultan last week signed the US-Oman Free Trade Agreement, a comprehensive agreement that will eliminate tariffs and barriers on the majority of goods and services traded between the two countries.

Oman is the fifth Middle Eastern country to have negotiated an FTA with the United States, and advances President George W. Bush's vision for a Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA).

"This is a good day for the people of Oman and the United States," declared Portman.

"With our signatures today, we cement our long-standing friendship and growing commercial ties, and create new economic opportunities for both of our countries," he added.

Once effective, the agreement will mean that all consumer and industrial products and 87 percent of agricultural tariff lines will be duty free, while Oman will also provide substantial market access across its entire services regime.

The US government also stated that the agreement will provide a secure, predictable legal framework for American investors operating in Oman, provide for effective enforcement of labor and environmental laws, and protect intellectual property.

In 2004, US goods exports to Oman totaled $330 million, and it is hoped that the agreement will expand opportunities for exports of machinery, automobiles, optic and medical instruments and electrical machinery, and agricultural products such as vegetable oils, and sugars, sweeteners, and beverage bases.

The United States has signed free trade deals with Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Bahrain, and is in the process of negotiating a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates.

"These are important steps on the path to implementing the President’s initiative to create a US-Middle East Free Trade Area by 2013," Mr Portman explained.

"Our efforts will advance economic growth and democracy in the Middle East – an area of almost 350 million people and a $70 billion trading relationship with the United States," he observed.

The United States is aggressively working to open markets globally, regionally, and bilaterally and to expand American opportunities in overseas markets. The Bush Administration has completed FTAs with thirteen countries – Chile, Singapore, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Australia, Morocco, Bahrain, Peru and now Oman.

Negotiations are underway with eleven more countries: United Arab Emirates, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, and the five nations of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU).

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