Chamber Applauds Conclusion of U.S.-Morocco Trade Deal

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Chamber of Commerce praised the Bush administration's conclusion of another important set of free trade agreement negotiations, this time with Morocco.

"An FTA with Morocco will bring immediate tangible benefits to American workers, businesses and consumers," said Dan Christman, Chamber senior vice president for international affairs. "Implementation of a Morocco-U.S. trade agreement will signal our strong and continuing interest in establishing a network of more open trading relationships throughout the Middle East region."

Coupled with the very important trade negotiations with Bahrain and President Bush's vision of a Middle East Free Trade Area within ten years, the Morocco-U.S. agreement is critical to enhancing U.S. leadership in this critical part of the world.

The Morocco-U.S. FTA will provide a number of important benefits to U.S. companies engaged in or seeking access to Morocco's $11 billion import market. These benefits include: across-the-board tariff reductions, improved access to Morocco's services and telecommunications markets; increased transparency and anti-corruption provisions; and enhanced investor and intellectual property protections.

The Chamber is optimistic there will be bipartisan support for the free trade agreement and pledged to carry the message to Capitol Hill and push for congressional approval.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector and region.

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04-28