Jordan Times
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
Scope of Jordan-US duty-free
trade expands to cover nearly 4,000 products
By Rami Abdelrahman
AMMAN — An additional 1,000 industrial and agricultural products on both the
Jordan and the US tariff schedules can now be imported and exported on a
duty-free basis under the Jordan - US Free Trade Agreement (JUSFTA), according
to the American Chamber of Commerce in Jordan (AmCham - JABA).
Under this year's stage of tariff elimination,
the scope of the duty-free trading environment between both countries has
widened from Jan.1, 2005, to cover nearly 4,000 products.
The current year is the fifth marking the gradual tariff elimination process
under the JUSFTA which eliminates all duties on all products traded between the
two countries by 2010, with the exception of tobacco and alcohol.
“Also from Jan.1, the duties on approximately 2,200 additional products on the
Jordan Tariff Schedule are reduced by 50 per cent,” a statement published
recently by AmCham indicated.
“These changes benefit US industries that export industrial and agricultural
products to Jordan such as chemicals, yarns and fabric, glassware, paper
products, mechanical appliances, meat products and fish stand to benefit from
this tariff elimination,” the statement remarked.
AmCham pointed out that so far, approximately 96 per cent of Jordanian exports
to the US are duty-free. The only Jordanian products with remaining duties
include some textile and garments' items, footwear and agricultural products.
Textile and garments are currently enjoying a similar preferential treatment
under the US-Jordan-Israel Qualifying Industrial Zones Agreement.
“The most immediate benefit of the third stage of tariff-elimination is the
unlimited potential for Jordanian-US cooperation in product manufacturing and
joint product trading arrangements brought about by flexible rules of origin set
between the two countries in the JUSFTA,” the statement said.
AmCham added that the JUSFTA's rules of origin provides an incentive for joint
manufacturing and production between Jordanian industrialists and their US
counterparts.
This incentive allows Jordanian products exportable to the US to include up to
15 per cent of US value-added content within the 35 per cent minimum local
value-addition requirement and permits US products exportable to Jordan to
include up to 15 per cent of Jordanian value-added content within the 35 per
cent minimum local value-addition requirement.
“Such an incentive in the JUSFTA indicates that the Free Trade Agreement model
between Jordan and the United States aims foremost at strengthening the trade
and investment relations between Jordan and the United States and enabling
businesses on both sides to engage in partnerships, joint ventures and joint
export processing operations,” the chamber said.
In addition to tariff elimination, AmCham highlighted the trade and investment
opportunities that JUSFTA provides by ensuring the protection and enforcement of
Intellectual Property Rights, the application of trade-related environmental and
labour practices and the opportunity to develop an e-commerce infrastructure.
According to AmCham Chairman Azzam Shuwaihat, the agreement consolidates
Jordan's competitive position as a regional hub for US-Middle East trade and
investment activity.
He indicated that AmCham is embarking on an active programme to promote trade
and investment ventures between businesses of both countries.
The programme identifies a list of potential opportunities for investment and
two-way trade that will soon be released to the Jordanian and US business
communities.
According to US figures, total Jordanian imports from the US reached $495.6
million last year, whereas exports topped $994 million.
Before the signing of the JUSFTA, Jordan's imports were $275.7 million with
exports at $30.7 million.
AmCham is now providing a newly-established InfoCentre, which serves as a
service gateway and the home of its knowledge management systems.