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Egypt

Under George Bush’s administration, in 2003, the US Trade Representative is said to have ’punished’ Egypt by suspending all overtures towards an FTA when Egypt withdrew its support for a US dispute against the European Union on trade in genetically modified crops at the WTO. This lasted until late 2004, when the overtures started picking up again. However, the US froze FTA talks after allegations of fraud and corruption surrounding Egypt’s December 2005 elections and they have not restarted since.

In the meantime, the US brokered a deal between Egypt and Israel to set up a ’qualifying industrial zone’ between the two countries, which angered both Egyptians and Arab neighbours. In 2009, under Obama’s administration, US and Egyptian trade officials signed a Plan for a Strategic Partnership which pledged to follow “a program of intensified U.S.-Egyptian cooperation on economic, trade, and investment issues”. But there have been no substantive moves towards negotiating a bilateral FTA between the two countries.

The European Union has had a preferential trade agreement with Egypt since 2001, which it hopes to upgrade in the process of achieving a fullblown EU-Mediterranean FTA.

Egypt signed a bilateral FTA with Turkey in December 2005, and another with EFTA in 2007. In 2010 it signed an FTA with Mercosur. Regionally, it is party to the Agadir Agreement, GAFTA and COMESA. Cairo is currently negotiating or considering FTAs with Russia, India and Indonesia.

last update: May 2012
photo: Hossam el-Hamalawy/CC BY 2.0


Changing minds
Rachid Mohamed Rachid, appointed to the industry and foreign trade portfolio last July, speaks to Al-Ahram Weekly about his efforts to reinvigorate the industrial sector and to integrate Egypt more fully into the global economy.
Egypt: Privatizing the Cabinet
Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rachid Mohamed Rachid is bringing three decades of private sector experience to his post, taking on the twin challenge of modernizing industry and expanding foreign trade.
Egypt: FTA controversy
Egypt and the US held the most high-level bilateral trade meeting since 2002 last week - a sign that the eventual opening of formal negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) could be in the works. However, officials on both sides were vague as to when that might be, saying that there were still important issues to be resolved before proceeding to the next stage of trade negotiations.
US restarts Egypt trade talks
The Bush administration in its second term is continuing its drive for closer economic ties with the Middle East, restarting trade-related talks with Egypt this week and formally opening free-trade agreement negotiations with Oman and the United Arab Emirates next month.
Egypt must resist pressures from American pharmaceuticals
The current government seems so eager to reach a free-trade agreement with the US that we fear it might be willing to forfeit Egyptian citizens’ right to health.
Egypt, US consider free trade talks
The United States and Egypt are studying the possibility of opening talks for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2005, a U.S. Trade Representative release said.
The quest for the holy grail
The push is on once again to secure an Egypt-US free trade agreement (FTA) with the usual optimism in the state press, but few are buying it this time.
New session of talks to set up FTA with Turkey
Egypt and Turkey agreed yesterday to discuss mechanisms to promote trade and investment cooperation between them, said Foreign Trade Ministry Under-Secretary Sharqawi Hefni on yesterday.
Egyptians protest trade accord with Israel
Scores of Egyptians protested across the country on Tuesday against the signing of a strategic trade and industry accord between Egypt and Israel, slamming the agreement as a form of colonialism.
Egypt-Israel-US trade pact sparks demonstrations
As the first Arab nation, the government of Egypt yesterday signed a trade pact with its neighbour Israel that will help breaking the latter’s economic isolation. After the controversial trade agreement was made known, demonstrations broke out throughout the Egyptian capital, Cairo.