United States pursues more free-trade agreements in the Middle East
Washington is trying to entrench its economic and political ties in the region
By Peyman Pejman
Special to The Daily Star
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
DUBAI: Trying to entrench its economic and political ties in the region, and blaming the Gulf Cooperation Council's slowness in devising region-wide economic measures, the United States is aggressively pursuing a number of free-trade agreements in this part of the Middle East.
The latest chapter in this effort started in March when Washington initiated free-trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the United Arab Emirates and Oman, two politically moderate countries in the region considered to be U.S. allies in the Middle East.
So far only Jordan and Morocco have signed an FTA with Washington, although the U.S. Congress is likely to ratify soon a similar agreement the United States has signed with Bahrain. Other countries in "serious discussions'' with the United States are Kuwait and Qatar. Many in the Middle East argue - and some in the U.S. agree - that FTAs with governments here are more a matter of politics, although no one denies that in the long term they can be a powerful tool for the countries that sign them.
In 2004, total exports to the U.S. from the six Middle Eastern countries - U.A.E., Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Jordan - amounted to $6.6 billion. Total imports from the U.S. were estimated at $7.2 billion.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=14580
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