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Date: 11 / 9 /2007
AEM
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News Release
AEM Commends U.S. House of Representatives on Support of U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) commends the U.S. House of Representatives for its support of the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and urges the Senate to also support this agreement at its upcoming floor vote. The House passed the U.S.-Peru FTA November 8 with historic bipartisan support.
As a member of the Latin America Trade Coalition, AEM has been working to garner broad bipartisan support for the U.S.-Peru FTA. The passing of this agreement by the House is of great importance because it paves the way for the upcoming Senate vote and support of other pending Latin America agreements, notes AEM Global Public Policy Manager Ann-Marie Padgett.
Padgett explains that the vote sends a message that Congress is willing to protect U.S. industrial manufacturers with legislation that opens markets and maintains Americas competitive advantage in the global economy.
The Peru FTA benefits both U.S. industrial manufacturers and American workers, adds Padgett. Some 80 percent of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial products to Peru will become duty-free immediately, with remaining tariffs phased out over 10 years. And, the FTA will allow trade in remanufactured goods, a growing market for some AEM members. Also, a Peru FTA helps ensure that U.S. companies and their workers will have access to Perus ambitious new infrastructure projects, and it helps prevent other FTA-seeking countries from creating barriers that bar U.S. products from entering Peru with minimal tariffs.
In order for U.S. manufacturers to have a level playing field, it is imperative to have complete Congressional approval of the Peru FTA this year and begin the implementation process immediately, said Padgett.
A longtime supporter of fair and free trade, AEM is the North American-based international trade group serving the off-road equipment manufacturing industry (agriculture, construction, forestry, mining and utility).
For more information on the benefits of a U.S-Peru FTA to the industrial machinery sector, contact AEMs Ann-Marie Padgett at or .
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