IMRA PRESSES BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO NEGOTIATE CHILE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

IMRA PRESSES BUSH ADMINISTRATION TO NEGOTIATE CHILE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT    The International Mass Retail Association has asked the Bush Administration to strongly support the development of a free trade agreement with Chile.
   The Arlington, Va.-based industry group said a free trade agreement would remove tariffs and quotas widely used on consumer goods, such as apparel, fruits, nuts, vegetables, wood products and furniture. U.S. tariffs on Chilean apparel, for example, is about 17 percent, while tariffs on other manufactured goods is about 3 percent.
   IMRA has also asked the new administration to set a 10-year time frame to reduce apparel tariffs and to avoid any special rules of origin for textile and apparel items.
   “Reducing high apparel tariffs will directly benefit U.S. consumers and provide the additional incentive for importers to shift sourcing decisions from the Far East to the Western Hemisphere,” said Robert J. Verdisco, president of IMRA, in a letter to the Trade Policy Staff Committee of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.