The Minister of Production, Julio José Prado, gives details on the progress of the Government’s trade agenda, in which an agreement with the United States has been proposed.
The Minister of Production, Julio José Prado; and Alejandra Castillo, Undersecretary of the United States Department of Commerce, on November 15, 2022.
The United States is one of the countries with which the current Government of Ecuador is seeking a trade agreement but achieving it will not be easy.
Signing a treaty with the United States “will not be easy in the short term,” says the Minister of Production, Julio José Prado.
He adds that having an agreement like the one Colombia and Peru signed with the United States in 2006 “is complex.”
In this context, the Trade and Investment Council (TIC) of the United States and Ecuador, a forum for the discussion of trade and investment issues, will meet in the first half of 2023.
The United States is one of Ecuador’s main trading partners.
Progress with China
Ecuador is currently negotiating a trade agreement with four countries, including China.
The Asian giant is the main destination for the country’s non-oil exports, ahead of the United States and the European Union.
According to Prado, the negotiations of this treaty have an advance of 80%.
The signing of the agreement is scheduled for December, during the XV China-Latin America and the Caribbean (China-LAC) Business Summit, to be held in Guayaquil.
If so, Ecuador would be the fourth Latin American country to reach a trade agreement with China, after Chile, Peru and Costa Rica.
Expectation for Mexico
Regarding the agreement with Mexico, Prado acknowledges that there are still no agreements on the entry of shrimp and bananas.
The two products intimidate Mexican businessmen because they lead the non-oil exportable basket of Ecuador.
Ecuador will not accept the exclusion of these products from the treaty, affirms Prado, who adds that the alternatives are “tariff relief, quotas and seasonality.”
The Government hopes to sign the treaty before the XVII Summit of the Pacific Alliance, to be held on November 25, 2022.
If consensus is not reached by that date, Ecuador “will review its strategy,” says Prado.
The treaty is an essential requirement for Ecuador to enter the Pacific Alliance as a full member, considered the eighth largest economy in the world.
This year the government also hopes to sign a trade agreement with Costa Rica. And with South Korea in the first quarter of 2023, says Prado.
