Peru Gets its Free Trade Agreement with the United States
November 13, 2024 - Americas Policy Program
by Ariela Ruiz Caro
More than three years after the first negotiations, Peru is the first and only Andean country on the verge of finally signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States. Nov. 8 the U.S. House of Representatives approved the agreement with a majority of 285 in favor and 132 against, passing the bill onto the Senate floor for approval. Peru's president, Alan Garcia, is planning to visit Washington in the next two weeks to sign the final agreement.

Paradoxically, this wide margin of votes in favor of the FTA with Peru comes when the Democrats have retaken legislative control, led by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, with a campaign focused on changing the country's trade policies. The Democratic vote was practically split: 109 voted in favor and 132 against. These results aren't that surprising.

The North American market is undoubtedly important for our country. The problem is the price that we are willing to pay for it. Latin American countries in general, and Peru in particular, have not taken into account that, in a world where the generation of wealth is based more and more on knowledge and technology, opening up the U.S. market to its raw materials is counter-productive. In exchange for acceptance of our asparagus, caramel, flowers, and other products with little added value, we are forced to accept a body of laws that consolidate the development strategy applied during the past two decades and inexorably deepen the income gap in the region exactly as it has in Mexico and Chile.

Ariela Ruiz Caro (arielaruizcaro(a)gmail.com) is a Peruvian economist that has worked in the Andean Community of Nations. She is a consultant at CEPAL and the president of the Commission of Permanent Representatives of MERCOSUR and an analyst for the Andean region for the CIP Americas Policy Program at

http://www.americaspolicy.org/