Dave McCurdy, president of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), today welcomed President Bush’s intention to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiated with Chile. The President’s endorsement is an important first step towards Congressional passage later this year, and the electronics industry will actively lobby Congress to support the U.S.-Chile FTA and its swift passage. 

“Free trade is one of the electronics industry’s highest priorities,” said McCurdy. “The members of our sector have worked hard to open the world’s markets, and we strongly support a U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement. U.S. high-tech goods and services exported to Chile totaled $865 million in 2001, and an FTA will almost certainly expand trade and commercial relations between our countries.”

The U.S.-Chile FTA provides significant benefits to the high-tech industry in critical areas such as tariff elimination, regulatory transparency, intellectual property protection and e-commerce development. A commitment to improved customs procedures in particular is likely to reduce transaction costs for U.S. investors and exporters. At this time of economic uncertainty, high-tech companies are looking to overseas markets for new growth opportunities, and this FTA has the potential to serve as a framework for other negotiations in which the U.S. is participating, including the Free Trade Area of the Americas.