US and Mongolia sign bilateral TIFA
USTR PRESS RELEASE 2004-58
July 15, 2004
United States and Mongolia Sign Bilateral Trade and Investment
Framework Agreement
WASHINGTON - The United States and Mongolia today further enhanced their growing
economic and trade partnership by signing a bilateral Trade and Investment Framework
Agreement (TIFA). The Agreement was signed by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Josette
Sheeran Shiner and Mongolia’s Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade Ocher Erdenee.
“This significant agreement marks a growing trade and investment partnership between our two
countries,” Ambassador Shiner said. “The TIFA and Mongolia’s recent selection as a
Millennium Challenge Account country both point to tremendous gains Mongolia has made in
bringing economic freedom and opportunity to its people.”
“The TIFA aims to increase and diversify trade and investment opportunities between the United
States and Mongolia. We look forward to working closely through the TIFA to further
strengthen our bilateral economic relationship,” commented Shiner.
“The TIFA will also provide a regular forum through which to address bilateral trade issues that
hamper trade and economic development and impede investment. The TIFA will not only deepen
our economic relationship with Mongolia but will also complement our existing TIFA with the
Central Asian states to create stronger trade ties in the region,” added Shiner.
The TIFA creates a United States-Mongolia Council on Trade and Investment that will consider
a wide range of issues that include, but are not limited to, intellectual property, labor,
environmental issues, and non-tariff barriers. The TIFA Council will establish an ongoing
dialogue to help remove impediments to trade between the United States and Mongolia.
The United States has TIFAs with a number of countries in order to enhance trade ties and
coordinate regionally and multilaterally through regular senior-level discussions on trade and
economic issues. Regular, ongoing dialogues established through TIFAs with other countries
and regions have led to concrete, positive results, resolved trade differences and led to a
deepening of economic relationships.
Background:
Mongolia has a population of 2.7 million. U.S. goods exports to Mongolia amounted to $20.7
million in 2003. Major exports to Mongolia include machinery, equipment, and aircraft. U.S.
imports from Mongolia totaled $183.4 million in 2003. Major imports include textiles and
apparel.
In May 2004, President Bush announced 16 countries that are eligible for Millennium Challenge
Account assistance, including Mongolia. The MCA is a new mechanism that distributes
development assistance to countries that have demonstrated that they are ruling justly, investing
in people and ensuring economic freedom.
The United States is working to open markets globally in the Doha World Trade Organization
(WTO) negotiations; regionally through APEC and the Free Trade Area (FTAA) of the Americas
negotiations; and bilaterally, with FTAs. The Bush Administration has completed FTAs with
eleven countries - Chile, Singapore, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Australia, Morocco, and now Bahrain - in the last two years.
Negotiations are under way or about to begin with ten more countries: Panama, Colombia, Peru,
Ecuador, Thailand, and the five nations of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). New
and pending FTA partners, taken together, would constitute America’s third largest export
market and the sixth largest economy in the world.
