U.S. starts free trade talks with Oman and U.A.E.

U.S. starts free trade talks with Oman and U.A.E.    The Bush administration has entered free-trade talks with the United Arab Emirates Tuesday and will initiate similar negotiations with Oman March 12.
   Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Europe and the Mediterranean Catherine Novelli will lead the U.S. negotiating team.
   The Bush administration said free trade agreements with the U.A.E. and Oman will help reach its goal of a Middle East Free Trade Area by 2013.
   “The U.A.E. and Oman are important strategic partners in the Middle East that are implementing significant economic reforms that free trade agreements with the United States will support and accelerate,” said Acting U.S. Trade Representative Peter F. Allgeier in a statement Monday.
   The United States' trade relationship with the U.A.E. is the third largest in the Middle East, behind Israel and Saudi Arabia. The United States has a combined trading relationship of $6 billion and a trade surplus of $2.8 billion with these two countries.
   Major U.S. exports to the U.A.E. and Oman include machinery, planes, vehicles and electrical machinery. Major imports from these countries include mineral fuel and woven apparel.