The U.S.-Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Free Trade Agreement PDF Download

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa, Southern
Languages : en
Pages :

View

Book Description

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa, Southern
Languages : en
Pages : 7

View

Book Description
Negotiations to launch a free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and the five members of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland) began on June 3, 2003. In April 2006, negotiators suspended FTA negotiations, launching a new work program on intensifying the trade and investment relationship with an FTA as a long term goal. A potential FTA would eliminate tariffs over time, reduce or eliminate non-tariff barriers, liberalize service trade, protect intellectual property rights, and provide technical assistance to help SACU nations achieve the goals of the agreement. This potential agreement would be subject to congressional approval. This report will be updated as negotiations progress.

Author: Danielle Langton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa, Southern
Languages : en
Pages : 7

View

Book Description
Negotiations to launch a free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and the five members of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland) began on June 3, 2003. A potential FTA would eliminate tariffs over time, reduce or eliminate non-tariff barriers, liberalize service trade, protect intellectual property rights, and provide technical assistance to help SACU nations achieve the goals of the agreement. This potential agreement would be subject to congressional approval.

Author: Ian F. Fergusson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa, Southern
Languages : en
Pages : 6

View

Book Description

Author: Carine Zamay Kiala
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

View

Book Description
Considering the obstacles to the conclusion of the Doha Round of international trade negotiations, bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) are the new trend emerging in international relations. Hence, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and China intend to negotiate such an agreement in order to promote trade and investment between their markets. However, SACU is an organisation with a colonial legacy that continues to debilitate the economies of its weaker member states. Discrepancies in its administration and operation threaten the integrity of the customs union, especially when third parties are involved. This study assesses the politics of trade in the Southern African Customs Union, and the prospect of a FTA with the People's Republic of China. It explores the quantity and quality of trade between the parties, as well as the role of the state in encouraging economic diplomacy. The dissertation draws on the experiences of other developing countries that have signed FTAs with stronger economies, in order to provide policy recommendations that will steer sustainable trade relations between SACU and China that will be aligned to SACU's development agenda. The study concludes that a FTA will stimulate a restructuring of SACU's trade partners, without creating a significant increase in production or employment. Furthermore, the cost competitiveness of Chinese imports will cripple the respective SACU industries, cause unemployment and negate prospects of new industrialisation in certain sectors of the economy. SACU's strategy for trade liberalisation should be incremental and sector specific. Copyright.

Author: Mareike Meyn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : European Union countries
Languages : en
Pages : 64

View

Book Description

Author: Carine Kiala
Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing
ISBN: 9783838396910
Category : China
Languages : en
Pages : 196

View

Book Description
The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and China intend to negotiate a free trade agreement to promote trade and investment between their markets. Yet, SACU s colonial legacy continues to debilitate the economies of its weaker member states. Administrative and operational discrepancies threaten the integrity of the customs union, further complicated by third parties.This study assesses the politics of trade in SACU, and the prospect of a FTA with the China. It explores the quantity and quality of trade between the parties, as well as the role of the state in encouraging economic diplomacy. It draws on the experiences of other developing countries that have FTAs with stronger economies, thus providing policy recommendations for sustainable trade relations between SACU and China that are aligned to SACU s development agenda.The study concludes that a SACU-China FTA will stimulate a restructuring of SACU s trade partners, with limited benefit to the region. The cost competitiveness of Chinese imports will cripple SACU industries, cause unemployment and negate prospects of new industrialisation. SACU s strategy for trade liberalisation should be incremental and sector specific.

Author: John Whalley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa, Southern
Languages : en
Pages : 37

View

Book Description
This paper evaluates a possible US-SACU (Southern African Customs Union) free trade agreement as part of a US approach to new preferential trade agreements characterized by the term competitive liberalization.' This is the idea that competition among large countries (US/EU) to negotiate preferential arrangements with smaller countries or regions will lower barriers, and eventually add fresh impulse to new multilateral WTO negotiations. In commercial policy terms, the US interest in such an arrangement lies in improved access to a smaller but more protected market where the EU already has preferential arrangements, and the SACU interest lies in improved access to a much larger but less protected market. There is also a SACU interest in weakening the trade restrictive effects of MFA quotas in the US for apparel imports. The risk of entrapment in extremely complex rules of origin arrangements which at times close markets (as in NAFTA and other US bilaterals) is a concern for SACU. Also, gains to SACU may be only temporary because of the US proposal to eliminate non agricultural tariffs entirely in the WTO by 2015. In key non commodity trade areas (services, investment, intellectual property, temporary entry of business persons), if other US bilaterals are any guide most liberalization requested will be heavily asymmetric if not unilateral on the SACU side. SACU does not currently cover any of these items since it is only a customs union, and prior negotiation will be needed among SACU countries. SACU also clearly has an interest in coordinating its negotiation with other US bilateral negotiating partners. These and other barriers to negotiation (including negotiating capacity constraints in several SACU members) will influence the outcome of negotiations.

Author: Marina Mayer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa, Southern
Languages : en
Pages : 78

View

Book Description

Author: Umesh Kumar
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Africa, Southern
Languages : en
Pages : 34

View

Book Description