From the January 1, Chilean products have total tax relief with the US

02/01/2015

The 1 of January received good news from Chilean exporters. That day, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed between Chile and the United States fulfilled 11 years of validity and with it, the last deadline of the schedule of tariff reduction was fulfilled.

The above means nothing more and nothing less, that the products that Chile sells to that country of the north achieved full tariff liberalization. In simpler words, exports of flagship products have a zero tariff. Here you can find wines, canned peaches, tomato paste and canned fruit mixes.

In addition, there is no quota restriction for products such as avocados, milk powder, condensed milk, whey and cheese.

The FTA with the USA established a wide range of categories of tariff reduction, whose terms of liberalization were: immediate, four, eight, 10 and 12 years, with Chile adding a list of products with a term of three years and the USA. another in two annual stages.

More than 7 thousand products

At 2014, 7.650 Chilean products are liberalized, representing 99,3% of total negotiated goods. Meanwhile, Chile has liberalized the entrance to the local market to 7.563 tariff items originating in the US, equivalent to 98,2% of total products.

The FTA with the USA The 6 of 2003 was signed in June in Miami and the 1 of January of 2004 came into force. It is a comprehensive agreement, which includes a great variety of aspects of the bilateral economic relationship.

Beyond trade in goods, public procurement was also addressed; investment promotion and protection; services; Protection of intellectual property; electronic commerce and the modern treatment of environmental and labor issues.

Six achievements

According to the data of the Directorate of International Economic Relations (Direcon), several milestones in the commercial relations between both countries can be highlighted.

1) At 2010, Chilean exporters used around 90% of tariff benefits, while at 80% of companies used some tariff preference on entering the US market.

2) The United States is the first investor in Chile with a stock of US $ 25.429 million, representing an 24,5% of the total amount of foreign investment in our country. In turn, the USA it remains the fifth direct investment recipient market in Chile, for US $ 7.285 million, which represents 7,8% of all direct investments of Chilean companies.

3) Regarding trade in services, the North American country is the main partner of Chile, with a relative share of 16%, both for exports and for imports.

4) In relation to trade in goods, the United States is the third destination of Chilean exports with US $ 9.731 million, while the US is the main supplier of Chile with an amount of US $ 16.061 million of imports.

5) During the 2003-2013 period, Chile's trade with the US it grew at an average rate of 15%, higher than the average annual growth of Chilean foreign trade with the world (14%).

6) The number of exporting companies to that country adds 2.067 in 2013, of which 350 firms are considered consolidated in the market, since they have exported uninterruptedly in the 2003-2013 period. In the same period, 13 of the 15 regions of the country experienced an increase in its exports to the United States.

Meetings

The FTA includes periodic meetings of the Free Trade Commission (CLC) that aims to supervise the implementation and development of the Treaty. The next meeting will be in June of 2015 in Washington.

Source: Latercera