Morocco becomes 1st MENA country to have free trade with US
Morocco becomes 1st MENA country to have free trade with US
2006-01-02
RABAT, Jan. 1 (Xinhuanet) — Morocco became the first country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to have free trade with the United States after the two countries’ free trade agreement came into effect on Sunday.
Under the agreement, Morocco will enjoy tariff free treatment for over 95 percent of its exports to the United States.
Morocco also made commitments to open its market, but the agricultural sector will be gradually opened in a 15-year period and the banking and insurance industries will have a four-year protection period.
Meanwhile, Morocco will only be able to export textiles to the United States free of tariff when the raw materials are from either domestic producers or American suppliers.
Morocco started free trade talks with the United States in 2002 and signed an agreement in March 2004. The agreement had been scheduled to take effect in July 2005 but was postponed due to disagreements in the protection of intellectual properties.
A final deal was reached after Morocco conceded to amend the laws in related fields.
Experts said the agreement will be conducive to Morocco’s free trade talks with the European Union, which is the African country’s largest trading partner. The negotiations are slated to start in early 2006.
