Friday, December 15, 2006

[IWS] USITC: U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement:Potential Economy-wide and Selected Sectoral Effects [15 December 2006]

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations
-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor
---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016
-------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC)

U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement:
Potential Economy-wide and Selected Sectoral Effects
Investigation No. TA-2104-023
Publication 3896  December 2006
http://hotdocs.usitc.gov/docs/pubs/2104F/pub3896.pdf
[full-text, 258 pages]

ABSTRACT
This report assesses the likely effects of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement
(TPA) on the U.S. economy as a whole and on specific industry sectors, including the effects
on U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), exports and imports, employment, and consumers.
Colombian exporters generally face substantially lower tariffs in the U.S. market than do
U.S. exporters in the Colombian market because most U.S. imports from Colombia enter free
of duty either unconditionally or under other duty-free provisions. Because of this tariff
asymmetry, the primary effects of the TPA will be improved U.S. access to the Colombian
market and an increase in U.S. exports to Colombia. Nevertheless, the overall effect of the
U.S.-Colombia TPA on the U.S. economy is likely to be small because of the small size of
the Colombian market relative to total U.S. trade and production.

The economy-wide model used by the Commission indicates that, after full implementation
of the market access provisions (tariff and tariff-rate quota (TRQ) elimination) of the TPA,
U.S. exports to Colombia may be higher by approximately $1.1 billion, U.S. imports from
Colombia may be higher by $487 million, and U.S. GDP higher by about $2.5 billion,
representing an increase of less than 0.05 percent of U.S. GDP. Only the U.S. sugar sector
is estimated to experience a decline in output, revenue, or employment of more than 0.1
percent. The Commission's findings are similar to those in other studies using similar
quantitative techniques.

The Commission analyzed the impact of both the immediate and the phased elimination of
tariffs and TRQs of the TPA using a sector-specific analysis of selected U.S. product sectors.
The sectors analyzed were meat (beef and pork); grain (wheat, rice, and corn); soybeans,
soybean products, and animal feeds; chemical, rubber, and plastic products; machinery,
electronics, and transportation equipment; textiles and apparel; sugar and sugar-containing
products; and cut flowers. For most of these sectors, the TPA will provide small but positive
benefits to U.S. exports.

Finally, the TPA also may increase trade and investment through trade facilitation, such as
the reduction of impediments in customs processing; improved regulatory environment, such
as enhanced investor protections; and increased regulatory transparency. The effects of such
measures on bilateral trade and investment flows may become more significant in the
medium to long term.

See in particular --
TPA Chapter 17—Labor . .  . . . . . . . . . . 6-20
Assessment . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-20
Summary of provisions . .  . . . . . . . . . . . 6-22
Views of interested parties .  . . . . . . . . . 6-23

______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
Cornell/ILR School                        
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             
New York, NY 10016                        
                                   
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
****************************************






<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?