On 18 November 2003, the USTR informed the US Congress of the government`s intention to open free trade negotiations with Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, all beneficiaries of the Air Preferences Act (ATPA). On February 1, 2009, the U.S.-Peru trade agreement (commonly known as the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement) came into force. The agreement improves the overall climate of trade and investment, including deranging tariffs on many products, speeding up the clearance process for U.S. imports, and strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights. On June 25, 2007, the United States and Peru reached an agreement amending the U.S.-Peru trade agreement. These legally binding amendments were negotiated to reflect the multi-party trade agreement reached on May 10, 2007 in the U.S. Congress. The U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement (PTPA) came into force on February 1, 2009. The PTPA removes tariffs and removes barriers to U.S. services, provides a safe and predictable legal framework for investors, and strengthens the protection of intellectual property, workers and the environment. The PTPA was the first existing agreement that contained innovative environmental and workers` rights provisions introduced as part of the multi-party trade policy agreement developed by congressional leaders on 10 May 2007.
Environmental protection obligations and cooperation: the agreement requires contracting parties to effectively enforce their own national environmental laws and to adopt, maintain and implement laws, regulations and all other measures necessary to meet these obligations. The “Environment” chapter contains a groundbreaking annex to forest sector management, which discusses the environmental and economic consequences of trade with respect to illegal logging and the illegal trade in wild animals. It also contains provisions that recognize the importance of preserving and protecting biodiversity and create a public bidding process with an independent secretariat for the environment to ensure that civil society`s views are properly taken into account. On November 8, 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement. On December 4, 2007, the U.S. Senate approved the agreement. On December 14, 2007, the President of the United States signed H.R. 366, the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Act. Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) Text: The full text of the agreement.
The free trade agreement builds on the provisions of the Andean Preferences and Drug Releases Act 1991, which allowed Peruvian companies to export most of the goods to the United States duty-free. The free trade agreement will provide similar treatment to the majority of U.S. products arriving in Peru, allowing 80% of U.S. consumer and industrial products to enter Peru duty-free as soon as it comes into force; the remaining rates maturing over a 10-year period. More than two-thirds of current U.S. agricultural exports to Peru will also be immediately exempt from tariffs. Despite these changes, the 18% VAT rate remains valid for almost all commercial transactions. The free trade agreement is also the first free trade agreement of the United States.