United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement

The United States-Chile Free Trade Agreement is a free trade agreement between the United States and Chile signed on June 6, 2003. The pact came into force on January 1, 2004. On that date, tariffs on 90% of U.S. exports to Chile and 95% of Chilean exports to the United States were eliminated. The agreement also established that Chile and the U.S. will establish duty-free trade in all products within a maximum of 12 years (2016). In 2009, bilateral trade between the United States and Chile reached US$ 15.4 billion, a 141% increase over bilateral trade levels before the U.S.-Chile FTA took effect. In particular, U.S. exports to Chile in 2009 showed a 248% increase over pre-FTA levels.

The first steps toward a trade agreement between the two countries began in 1992 when U.S. President George H. W. Bush agreed with Chile’s President Patricio Aylwin to "want to pursue free-trade negotiations as quickly as that is feasible." At the 1994 Summit of the Americas U.S. President Bill Clinton, Canada's Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien, and Ernesto Zedillo, the President of Mexico, had agreed to admit Chile to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In February 1997 Chile’s President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle visited the U.S. Congress and declared his support for his country to join NAFTA. However, NAFTA expansion could not be accomplished because the Clinton administration failed to obtain “fast-track” negotiation abilities from the U.S. Congress. Meanwhile, Chile signed a pact with Canada in 1996 and with Mexico in 1998.

On August 1, 2002, the U.S Senate granted fast-track authority to President George W. Bush to negotiate a free trade agreement with Chile and other countries. On December 11, 2002, the U.S Trade Representative Robert Zoellick announced it had reached an FTA agreement with Chile. On January 30, 2003, President Bush notified the U.S Congress of his intention to sign the treaty within 90 days.

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