Montevideo, Uruguay – Today, the United States and Uruguay held the seventh meeting of the bilateral Trade and Investment Council under the 2007 Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. Assistant U.S. Trade Representative John Melle travelled to Montevideo to lead the U.S. delegation, and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs José Luis Cancela Gomez led the Uruguayan delegation.
Officials discussed a broad range of trade and investment issues, including trade facilitation, improving opportunities for small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), the digital economy, and market access issues. The two delegations also exchanged perspectives on ongoing multilateral and plurilateral trade initiatives.
The next meeting of the Trade and Investment Council will be held in Washington in 2017.
In 2015, two-way goods trade with Uruguay was $1.9 billion. Uruguay exported $606 million in goods to the United States in 2015, a 33% increase from 2014, and a 157% increase from 2010. U.S. goods exports to Uruguay were $1.3 billion, down 19% from 2014 but up 33% from 2010. The leading categories of U.S. exports to Uruguay in 2015 include machinery, perfumery and cosmetics, optical and medical instruments, and pharmaceuticals. The leading goods imports from Uruguay in 2015 include beef, prepared meet and fish, hides and skins, and wood and wood products.
