ITC: Andean trade agreement has little impact on U.S.

Ecuador is the only remaining beneficiary country under ATPA.    Andean Trade Preference Act imports last year continued to have little impact on the U.S. economy and consumers, the U.S. International Trade Commission said in AndeanTrade Preference Act: Impact on U.S. Industries and Consumers and onDrug Crop Eradication and Crop Substitution, 2013, Sixteenth Report.
   ATPA requires the ITC, a fact-finding agency, to submit biennial reports to the White House and Congress on the ATPA program’s economic impact on U.S. industries and consumers, and on the effectiveness of the program in promoting illegal drug crop eradication and crop substitution in the beneficiary countries.
   ATPA, which was first enacted in 1991, expired on July 31, 2013. Ecuador is the only remaining beneficiary country under ATPA. Peru and Colombia ended their inclusion in 2010 and 2012, respectively, after entering free trade agreements with the United States.
   U.S. imports of $2.6 billion from Ecuador under ATPA preferences during 2013 represented a meager 0.11 percent of the total value of U.S. merchandise imports worldwide. Petroleum and petroleum products topped the list of ATPA imports from Ecuador, accounting for 92.8 percent of the value of the 20 leading items in 2013. The five leading items benefiting exclusively from ATPA in 2013 were heavy crude oil, fresh-cut roses, tuna in airtight containers, light crude oil, and light oil mixtures, the agency reported.
   “If Congress extends the president’s authority to provide preferential treatment under ATPA, and if the president continues to designate Ecuador as a beneficiary country, the probable future effect of ATPA on the overall U.S. economy and on U.S. industries is likely to be minimal, given the small share of imports from Ecuador in total U.S. imports,” ITC said.
   The ITC estimates that the effect during 2012-13 of ATPA in reducing illegal coca cultivation and promoting crop substitution efforts in Ecuador continued to be “small and mostly indirect, given that no significant coca cultivation exists in Ecuador.”