U.S.-Panama FTA News

Panama’s president wants to review ag trade, other issues with Biden

Panama’s president has asked to meet with President Biden to discuss migration issues as well as the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement’s agriculture provisions outside of a gathering of Latin American leaders in Washington, DC, in early November, which he cannot attend. The meeting of “Americas Partnership” leaders was confirmed this week by U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai during remarks at the Center for American Progress. Two officials from countries party to the U.S.-led Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity last month...

Taylor: Capacity building can address Panamanian concerns about U.S. ag exports

The U.S. is engaging with Panama to help its agricultural producers adapt as the country phases out tariffs on certain U.S. exports as set out under the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor said during a visit this week to the country. The TPA includes mechanisms to “help producers navigate the transition under capacity-building programs,” Taylor told reporters during a call on Wednesday in response to a question about Panamanian...

APEP partners laud U.S. outreach, push for more trade in the Western Hemisphere

Senior officials from the newly named 11 Americans Partnership for Economic Prosperity countries on Friday used an opening ministerial event to lay out their goals for the initiative, calling on the U.S. and partners to boost trade in the Western Hemisphere. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Secretary of State Antony Blinken convened the virtual ministerial after the U.S. released long-awaited details on APEP , including the initial partner nations: Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador,...

U.S. ag groups urge administration not to adjust FTA with Panama

More than a dozen U.S. agriculture groups are urging U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reject Panama’s request to renegotiate the terms of its trade agreement with the U.S. after Panamanian officials asked to slow the tariff liberalization outlined in the deal. Panama last month asked Tai and Vilsack to review the phasing out of certain agricultural tariff-rate quotas – specifically rice, dairy, pork and poultry – under the U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement to avoid...

Panama presses U.S. to revise agricultural commitments under FTA

Panama is calling on the U.S. to renegotiate some agricultural commitments under the countries’ bilateral free trade agreement, warning that phasing out tariffs on some U.S. exports as prescribed under the deal could threaten rural jobs in the country. Panama’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Erika Mouynes on Wednesday delivered letters on behalf of the country’s government to the chargé d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Panama, Stewart Tuttle, asking the U.S. to work with Panama to review the phasing out...

Top USDA trade official heads to Colombia for 'largest-ever' international trade mission

The Agriculture Department's top trade official this week will lead what the agency is calling its “largest-ever international trade mission” to Colombia. Ted McKinney, the under secretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs, said in a statement that the size of the delegation headed to Bogotá – where government and industry officials also will meet with “potential customers” from Panama – “demonstrates the degree of U.S. exporter interest in these markets.” More than 50 companies and trade associations will be...