October 24, 2007

Panama’s tariffs on industrial goods range as high as 20 percent. Panama’s average agricultural tariff is 15 percent, but many U.S. agriculture exports face tariff rates as high 260 percent. The U.S.-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement levels the playing field for U.S. exporters by moving beyond one-way preferences to full partnership and reciprocal commitments under which U.S. exports also benefit from duty free treatment.

Source: Prepared by the International Trade Administration

October 23, 2007

Exports of goods and services were equivalent to an estimated 31 percent of global GDP in 2006 and 2007.

Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook (WEO, October 2007)

October 22, 2007

U.S. small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represented at least 75 percent of all U.S. exporters to the individual Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement partner countries (Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) in 2005.

Source: Prepared by the International Trade Administration

October 19, 2007

Over 80 percent of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products to Colombia will be duty-free immediately upon entry into force of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, with remaining tariffs phased out over ten years. Within each of the following key industrial sectors, almost all U.S. products will gain immediate duty free access to the Colombian market: agriculture and construction equipment, aircraft and parts, auto parts, fertilizers and agro-chemicals, information technology equipment, medical and scientific equipment, and wood.

Source: International Trade Administration, Office of Trade Policy Analysis

October 18, 2007

Free trade agreements (FTAs) help our companies, farmers and manufacturers sell American goods and services to new markets around the world. The countries with which the United States has implemented FTAs represent just 7.5 percent of global GDP, yet more than 42 percent of all U.S. exports are headed to our FTA partners.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration; International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (April 2007)