Canada signs free-trade agreement with Panama
The Gazette, Montreal
Canada signs free-trade agreement with Panama
By Andrew Mayeda, Canwest News Service
11 August 2009
PANAMA CITY — Prime Minister Stephen Harper will sign a free-trade agreement with Panama on Tuesday morning, giving Canadian business greater access to the small but fast-growing Central American economy.
Once the deal is ratified, Panama will immediately eliminate tariffs on more than 90 per cent of its current imports from Canada. The remaining tariffs will fall within a decade.
Canada has a relatively modest trade relationship with Panama, whose economy grew by 9.2 per cent last year. In 2008, Canadian exports to Panama totaled $127.9 million.
“Signing a free-trade agreement with a key hemispheric partner like Panama is the logical next step in our policy of pursuing deeper integration and closer co-operation throughout the Americas,” Harper said in a statement.
A similar trade deal with Peru came into force on Aug. 1, and another with Colombia is awaiting ratification in Parliament.
Canadian officials are working on a host of other bilateral free-trade deals, including with the European Union, India, and a host of Central American and Caribbean countries.
Harper arrived here Monday night after attending the Three Amigos Summit in Mexico.
He returns to Ottawa Tuesday evening after signing the free-trade deal with Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli.
