Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, October 16, 2018, Deputy United States Trade Representative Ambassador C.J. Mahoney and Chile’s Director General for International Economic Affairs Rodrigo Yáñez chaired the twelfth meeting of the United States – Chile Free Trade Commission (the “Commission” or “FTC”). The Commission is responsible for overseeing the ongoing elaboration and implementation of the United States – Chile Free Trade Agreement (the “Agreement” or “FTA”).
Officials from both countries reviewed the impact of the Agreement since the last Commission meeting in December 2016. Both Parties underscored the importance of ensuring the effective implementation of the Agreement, which has been in force since January 1, 2004.
Officials from both countries recognized the value of their dialogue regarding the implementation of Chapter 17 (Intellectual Property Rights). Chile explained the status of ongoing domestic work regarding intellectual property matters, including the passage of legislation targeting certain aspects of satellite piracy. Both the United States and Chile underscored the value of strengthening and improving cooperation on intellectual property between the two countries.
Officials also discussed a number of other bilateral matters of interest, including pharmaceutical patent-related issues, nutritional labeling, and the status of product specific rules of origin change requests.
In accordance with Article 21.1.3 (b) of the FTA, the Commission signed a Decision agreeing to modify Annex 4.1 (Specific Rules of Origin) of the FTA to maintain consistency with 2017 updates to the nomenclature for the Harmonized Tariff Code System.
The United States and Chile held meetings of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Matters on Thursday, October 11 and the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade on Monday, October 15. The Commission also reviewed outcomes of the eighth meeting of the Environmental Affairs Council under the FTA and the sixth meeting of the Joint Commission for Environmental Cooperation under the United States-Chile Environmental Cooperation Agreement, which took place in Santiago, Chile on September 4-5, 2018.
As the United States and Chile approach the fifteenth anniversary of the Agreement’s entry into force, the United States looks forward to continuing its engagement with Chile to fully implement the FTA to the benefit of both countries.
Background
For the United States, total two-way goods trade with Chile totaled $24.2 billion in 2017 and total two-way services trade totaled $6 billion in 2016. In 2017, Chile was the United States’ fifth largest goods trading partner in the Western Hemisphere and 29th largest overall goods trading partner. The United States maintained a trade surplus with Chile in both goods and services totaling $3.1 billion in 2017 and $2.6 billion in 2016 respectively.
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