U.S. trade and investment framework agreements signed with Yemen, Kuwait

U.S. trade and investment framework agreements signed with Yemen, Kuwait    The Bush administration signed trade and investment framework agreements with Yemen and Kuwait.
   These agreements lay the groundwork for free-trade agreement talks between the United States and other countries. Bahrain, Jordan and Morocco concluded similar agreements with the United States before opening free-trade agreement negotiations.
   The trade and investment framework agreements with Yemen and Kuwait are also in line with the Bush administration’s initiative to advance economic reforms in the Middle East and create a Middle East Free Trade Area by 2013.
   The agreements establish U.S.-Yemen and U.S.-Kuwait Councils for Trade and Investment, which individuals from the countries meet to address trade and economic issues between them.
   According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, U.S. goods exports to Yemen in 2002 totaled $366 million, including planes, oilfield and drilling equipment, electrical appliances, wheat and dairy products. U.S. goods imports from Yemen that year totaled $246 million, including crude oil and coffee.
   In 2002, the United States exported $1 billion of goods to Kuwait, including iron and steel, chemicals, oilfield and drilling equipment, planes and food products. That same year the United States imported $2 billion of goods from Kuwait, including crude oil, petroleum products and chemical fertilizer.
   The USTR emphasized the benefits of the U.S.-Jordan free-trade agreement. Since the adoption of the agreement, Jordan has increased its exports to the United States to about $600 million in 2003, creating more than 30,000 jobs, the agency said.