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| UAE: free trade talks with US resume in March | |
| 2006-02-27 | |
| WASHINGTON — The US will resume talks in March on a free-trade pact with the UAE despite an uproar over Bush administration approval of a deal to allow a UAE company to operate terminals at six US ports, a US trade official said yesterday. “UAE remains an important priority for us,” Shaun Donnelly, assistant US trade representative for Europe and the Middle East, said. “It’s very important in building over time the Middle East free trade area.” The US was making “good progress” in the talks with UAE and hopes to finish relatively soon, Donnelly said. Negotiators probably will not be able to resolve all the remaining issues in areas ranging from agriculture to investment to services when they hold their fifth round of talks next month, he said. Two-way trade between the US and the UAE totalled close to $10 billion in 2005, making it the third-largest US trading partner in the Middle East behind Israel and Saudi Arabia. The US enjoyed a $7 billion trade surplus with the UAE last year, helped by $2.1 billion in civilian aircraft sales to the country. The Bush administration began free-trade talks with the UAE in March 2005. The US already has free-trade pacts with Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Bahrain and has concluded one with Oman that is expected to be sent to Congress for approval early this year.
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| Posted by:Steve White |