[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 29 (Monday, July 19, 2004)]
[Pages 1308-1309]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting Legislation To Implement the United 
States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement

July 15, 2004

To the Congress of the United States:

    I am pleased to transmit legislation and supporting documents 
prepared by my Administration to implement the United States-Morocco 
Free Trade Agreement (the ``Agreement'' or the ``FTA''). This Agreement 
enhances our bilateral relationship with a longstanding partner in the 
North Africa and Middle East region. The Agreement will benefit the 
people of the United States and Morocco, illustrating to other 
developing countries the advantages of open markets.
    This Agreement is a strong demonstration of my Administration's 
commitment to opening markets, leveling the playing field, and expanding 
opportunities for American workers, manufacturers, businesses, farmers, 
and consumers. In negotiating this Agreement, my Administration was 
guided by the negotiating objectives set out in the Trade Act of 2002. 
The Agreement will expand Morocco's market for U.S. manufactured goods, 
agricultural products, services, and investment. As soon as this 
Agreement enters into force, tariffs will be eliminated on virtually all 
manufactured goods traded between our countries.
    The Agreement provides U.S. producers of beef, poultry, wheat, corn, 
soybeans, and other agriculture products with increased access to 
Morocco's market, while complementing Morocco's agriculture reform 
program. In addition, the Agreement provides the opportunity for U.S. 
producers to adjust to increased imports from Morocco, if necessary.
    New opportunities for U.S. services firms will be opened, U.S. 
investment will be protected, and U.S. companies will be able to 
participate in government procurement opportunities on the same basis as 
Moroccan firms. This Agreement has some of the strongest intellectual 
property protections ever contained in a U.S. trade agreement with a 
developing country.
    The United States and Morocco have agreed to cooperate on 
environment and labor issues and to establish mechanisms supporting 
those efforts. Negotiation of this Agreement has promoted adoption of a 
new labor law in Morocco. This Agreement has also helped lead to 
improved domestic environmental laws in Morocco, and a number of 
additional cooperative projects have been identified for future work.
    The approval of this Agreement will be another important step in 
implementing our plan for a broader Middle East Free Trade Area. Indeed, 
this Agreement offers the United States an opportunity to encourage 
economic reform in a moderate Muslim nation, as we have done with the 
Jordan FTA and the recently concluded Bahrain FTA. Leaders in Morocco 
support a reformist and tolerant vision that includes free parliamentary 
elections, the sale of state-owned businesses, the encouragement of 
foreign investment that can be connected to broad-based development, and 
better protection of the rights of women and workers. It is strongly in 
the interests of the United States to embrace these reforms and do what 
we can to

[[Page 1309]]

encourage them. Passing this Agreement is a critical step in that 
direction.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 July 15, 2004.