bilaterals.org logo
bilaterals.org logo

US-Peru

On 7 December 2005, Peru and the United States signed a bilateral treaty called the Trade Promotion Agreement.

The signing triggered a wave of public demonstrations in 2005. Prominent among the organizers were small farm organizations asserting that they would likely be hit the hardest by the resulting elimination of tariffs and other trade protections. The Peruvian government claimed that it would offer subsidies to reduce the agreement’s impact on small farmers, just as the United States does for its own agricultural sector. When the government failed to live up to this promise, the peasants marched in protest, demanding that the subsidies be released. In the midst of these protests, Peru ratified the FTA in June 2006.

February 2008 saw a new round of protests dubbed the “Paralización Nacional Agrícola” (National Agrarian Shutdown), in which thousands of small farmers participated. The protests, organized by the Comando Nacional Unitario de Lucha de los Campesinos Peruanos, were repressed by the authorities, leaving a total of four dead.

As part of the legislative package required by the FTA prior to its entry into force on 1 January 2009, the Peruvian executive branch – making use of the legislative powers granted by Congress – passed Legislative Decree 1015 on May 20 reducing the percentage of peasant and indigenous community members required to vote in order to sell or give concessions on their land in mountain and jungle areas.

In reaction, indigenous people from the Peruvian Amazon held several weeks of protests in August 2008 calling for the revocation of over 30 FTA-related decrees affecting their land rights. They were successful in getting the Peruvian Congress to revoke Decrees 1015 and 1073.

Also in August 2008, the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) amended Decision 486 regarding intellectual property in order to allow Peru to implement the FTA with the US. The amendment, initially rejected by Bolivia, brought CAN to the brink of dissolution.

The US-Peru FTA took effect on 1 February 2009.

last update: May 2012

Photo: Giuliano Koren / Global Giving


Peru urges Bush to push through FTA now
While his neighbors in South America are in no hurry to ratify a free trade agreement with Washington, Peruvian President Alan Garcia plans to ask President George W. Bush to push for ratification of the beached Free Trade Treaty today.
Peru prez hawking FTA to US
An enthusiast of the US-sponsored Free Trade Agreement, Peruvian President Alan Garcia will promote the agreement on his October visit to the US.
Peru seeks to renegotiate free-trade pact with US
Peruvian President Alan Garcia said his government will seek to renegotiate a free-trade agreement signed between Peru and the US which is awaiting a vote in the US Congress. "We need to think about a different accord, one for the poor, one that looks within, complying with a national agenda."
FTA means deeper poverty in Peru
An issue that has received less attention is the implications of the FTA for the entry of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) into Peru.
Lobbyists push for deal with Peru, but vote remains elusive
The business community is off and running in its attempt to push the latest Latin American free-trade agreement through Congress.
US House Dems vow to oppose Peru FTA on labor standards
Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday said they would oppose a free trade agreement between the US and Peru, citing inadequate provisions to protect labor standards.
FTA Sanction Betrays Peru Farming
Antolin Huascar, president of the National Coordination Office against the Free Trade Agreement, branded the ratification of that deal with the US as treason to the Peruvian farming world.
Anti-FTA Rally Shakes Lima
Thousands of Peruvians made Lima shudder with a rally against the congressional ratification Thursday morning of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US.
Peru ratifies US free trade deal
Peru’s outgoing Congress has voted overwhelmingly to ratify a free trade deal with the US amid protests by recently elected opposition deputies.
Peru approves free-trade pact with U.S.
Peru’s Congress overwhelmingly voted to ratify a free trade pact with the United States early Wednesday.