Tag Archives: Free Trade Agreement

Honduras Signs Free Trade Agreement

News on December 1, 2011 by alma castro| Comments Off

After three years and seven rounds of negotiations, Mexico has signed an FTA with Honduras and four other Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Most assessments of the pact say it will help to raise the economy of each nation involved in the Central America Trade Specialization Act.

El Salvador’s Ministry of Economic Affairs issued a communique announcing that the FTA will replace current three bilateral trade agreements among Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The communique pointed out that the agreement is largely aimed at Mexican products and services, especially for that nation’s small and medium-sized enterprises.

Central America is a natural and developing market, and the signing of the FTA should prove to be good for firm trade relations between Honduras and the other nations in Central America and should make it easier for the six nations to exchange products and services.

The communique also claimed that the FTA will lead to economic growth. At present, Central America’s imports from Mexico stand at US$480 billion yearly, and the zone is obviously important to Mexico’s external trade.

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Canadian Prime Minister to Visit Honduras

News on August 8, 2011 by Administrator| Comments Off

On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be in Honduras, continuing negotiations on a free-trade agreement.

The Prime Minister is likely to highlight the role that Canada has played in helping Honduras to be recognized after the political events of 2009. Canada was part of Honduras’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Prime Minister Harper will be the first Canadian leader to visit Honduras since it has been welcomed back into the fold of world politics.

Officials from Canada and Honduras have met twice since December. Canada is closer to striking a deal with Honduras than with any of the other central american countries; however the Prime Minister’s Office has said it does not expect to announce a free trade deal with Honduras on this trip.

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EU – Central America Summit Review

News on May 19, 2010 by Administrator| Comments Off

The Madrid summit witnessed the official closing of trade negotiations between the EU and the Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama.

Heads of state signed off on the “trade pillar” of the association agreement today. In a joint statement, leaders said that they had achieved “an ambitious, comprehensive and balanced” outcome.

The trade deal will include “100 percent market opening for industrial products on both sides,” the statement said. The agreement will also allow European cars to enter the Central American countries’ markets free of tariffs over a ten-year period. New quotas will be implemented for trade in beef and rice, allowing more of each product to enter the European Union.

The negotiations have closed, but the proposed deal must overcome several more hurdles before it can take effect – namely, it has to be approved by the European Council, the European Parliament, and legislatures in each of the Central American countries.

“It’s really difficult to say” when the deal might actually take effect, said Kerwien, the Commission press officer. “The first thing the [European] Parliament has to vote on is the Korea deal,” she noted, referring to the free trade agreement with South Korea that has been signed, but has yet to be ratified. “Once this has been done, we will see what the general mood is. If all goes well for Korea, I don’t think that there are major problems for Central America,” she said.

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