The executive president of the international forestry company International Paper, John T. Dillon, sent a letter to the President of the United States, George W. Bush, asking him to speed up the signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Chile as soon as possible.
In the letter, Dillon explain to Bush that a quick signing of the FTA would benefit U.S. forestry companies, as Chilean tariffs would be immediately eliminated.
Dillon continued by saying that a delay in the signing of the FTA would create disadvantages for U.S. forestry companies against their Canadian counterparts, which, thanks to the FTA with Chile, can put their products in the Chilean market without paying tariffs.
The executive added that this situation reduces competitiveness of U.S. forestry companies, such as International Paper, and generates lost earnings of US$100 million per year.
This letter is a new sign of the importance U.S. companies have given to the FTA with Chile. Recently, The director of the U.S. International Trade Policies department of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), Scott Otteman, said he is confident Chile and the United States will sign the recently reached free trade agreement (FTA) between both countries before July this year.
Otteman said he was very disappointed that, as a result of the newly signed FTA between Chilean and the European Union, U.S. companies' stake in Chilean imports has decreased. He added that the association he directs wants the FTA between the United States and Chile to be signed as soon as possible, so that it can go into effect on Jan. 11 next year.
The United States negotiated FTAs with Chile and Singapore at almost the same time late last year. But the FTA between Singapore and the United States has been already signed, while the signing of an FTA with Chile is still pending. Several sources have suggested that Chile's refusal to support the U.S. position against Iraq in the U.N. Security Council was the main reason for the delay in the signing of the FTA.
U.S. representatives have denied the hypothesis, however, with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick insisting that the delay is a result of problems with the document's translation and not retribution for Chile's failure to support the United States in its conflict with Iraq. (Ed. note: See today's lead story.)
Brad Hash
G.E. Tree Campaign
ASEJ
Action for Social and Ecological Justice
P.O. Box 57 Burlington,VT 05402 USA
ph: (802) 863-0571
fax: (802) 864-8203
www.asej.org
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