[House Document 108-101]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




108th Congress, 1st Session - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 108-101


 
                     THE UNITED STATES-CHILE FREE
                            TRADE AGREEMENT

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

 A DRAFT OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS TO IMPLEMENT 
  THE UNITED STATES-CHILE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (FTA), PURSUANT TO 19 
                     U.S.C. 3805 (a)(1)(A) AND (B)




    July 16, 2003.--Message and accompanying papers referred to the 
 Committees on Ways and Means and the Judiciary, and ordered to be printed

                                 ______

                     U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
88-352                      WASHINGTON : 2003




To the Congress of the United States:
    I am pleased to transmit legislation and supporting 
documents to implement the United States-Chile Free Trade 
Agreement (FTA). The Agreement will further open Chile's 
markets for U.S. manufactured goods, agricultural products, 
services, and investors. It will increase competition and 
consumer choice. The FTA will enhance prosperity in the United 
States and Chile, serve the interest of expanding U.S. 
commerce, and advance our overall national interest.
    The U.S.-Chile FTA is the first United States free trade 
agreement with a South American country. We hope the FTA will 
add momentum to Chile's continued implementation of the free 
market economic policies that have made Chile a model for its 
Latin American neighbors. This Agreement will also encourage 
other countries in the Western Hemisphere to follow Chile's 
path, furthering our efforts to establish a Free Trade Area of 
the Americas.
    My Administration is strongly committed to securing a level 
playing field for America's workers, farmers, and businesses. 
The Congress helped advance that policy by passing Trade 
Promotion Authority in the Trade Act of 2002 (the ``Trade 
Act''). The Congress can help us take another important step by 
approving this Agreement and the implementing legislation. 
United States workers and businesses are currently at a 
competitive disadvantage in the Chilean market. Chile is an 
associate member in Mercosur and has FTAs with many other 
countries, including Canada, Mexico, and the 15 members of the 
European Union. Securing an FTA with Chile will ensure that 
U.S. workers and businesses will receive treatment in the 
Chilean market that is as good as or better than their 
competitors.
    In negotiating this FTA, my Administration was guided by 
the negotiating objectives set out in the Trade Act. More than 
85 percent of trade in consumer and industrial goods between 
the United States and Chile will be free of duties immediately 
uponimplementation, and most remaining tariffs on U.S. exports 
to Chile will be eliminated within 4 years after that. More than three-
quarters of U.S. farm goods will enter Chile duty free within 4 years 
and all duties on such goods will be phased out over 12 years. At the 
same time, the Agreement includes measures to ensure that U.S. firms 
and farmers have an opportunity to adjust to imports from Chile.
    This Agreement opens opportunities for our services 
businesses, which now account for nearly 65 percent of our 
gross domestic product and more than 80 percent of employment 
in the United States. Chile will grant substantial market 
access to U.S. firms across nearly the entire spectrum of 
services, including banking, insurance, securities and related 
financial services, express delivery services, professional 
services, and telecommunications.
    This Agreement provides for state-of-the-art intellectual 
property protection and recognizes the importance of trade in 
the digital age by including significant commitments on trade 
in digital products. In addition, it ensures that electronic 
commerce will stay free of duties and discriminatory rules.
    United States citizens and businesses that invest in Chile 
will have significant increased protections. This Agreement 
promotes rule of law and enhances transparency and openness in 
order to foster a more secure environment for trade and 
investment. Furthermore, Chile will provide U.S. investors with 
important substantive protections that Chilean investors 
already enjoy in the United States.
    The United States and Chile have also agreed to cooperate 
on environment and labor issues and to establish mechanisms to 
support those efforts. A number of important cooperative 
projects that will promote environmental protection are 
identified for future work. The FTA encourages the adoption of 
high labor and environmental standards, obligates each country 
to enforce its own labor and environmental laws, and makes 
clear that domestic labor and environmental protections may not 
be reduced in order to encourage trade or investment. The 
Agreement also preserves our right to pursue other legitimate 
domestic objectives, including the protection of health and 
safety, consumer interests, and national security.
    Trade and openness contribute to development, the rule of 
law, economic growth, and international cooperation. Chile is a 
close partner of the United States, and this Agreement will 
strengthen those ties.
    With the approval of this Agreement and passage of the 
implementing legislation by the Congress, we will advance U.S. 
economic and political interests, while encouraging others to 
work with us to expand free trade around the world.

                                                    George W. Bush.
    The White House, July 15, 2003.

    

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