The United States is Chile`s main trading partner in one country, accounting for 20 percent of Chilean exports and 15 percent of imports in 2002. In contrast, Chile is the 34th largest destination for U.S. exports and the 36th largest contribution from imports, accounting for 0.3% of U.S. trade (2002 data). Chile`s relatively small share of U.S. trade has actually declined slightly in recent years, but its increasing openness to U.S. trade is evident in the numbers. In 2002, Chile`s per capita imports from the United States amounted to $163, higher than in other major South American countries considered less liberalized in their trade policies, such as Argentina ($44) and Brazil ($71). (10) Economic reforms continued in the 21st century and effectively coincided with a period of strong economic growth that lasted most of the last decade (see Table 1).
Chile is currently adjusting to the slowdown in domestic and foreign economic growth over the past two years. In 2002, Chile`s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 1.7 per cent, which was higher than many of its neighbours. Although this reflects a slower growth rate compared to the average economic growth of more than 5% in the late 1990s, the Chilean economy has proven resilient in the face of a global economic slowdown and the contagion of the Argentine financial crisis. Tariff dismantling: The two agreements establish a transitional programme for the creation of a free trade area (Article 3.3). In both agreements, there are linguistic similarities in terms of the prohibition on increasing existing tariffs or adopting new tariffs. Both agreements make the abolition of customs duties subject to the list of customs obligations in Annex 3.3 to each agreement. Both agreements provide for the acceleration of tariff elimination, the only difference being the plurilateral nature of the DR CAFTA: each DR-CAFTA Party is informed of the acceleration conditions agreed by the other DR-CAFTA Parties. The CGAFTA also provides that any Central American Party may grant preferential tariff treatment to another Central American Party in accordance with the Central American integration instruments, provided that the matter complies with the rules of origin of those instruments. Both agreements provide for the possibility of raising tariffs to the level agreed in Annex 3.3 if the duties had previously been reduced unilaterally and of maintaining or increasing a tariff approved by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. In addition, THE DRCAA includes a tariff reduction program that applies only to the Dominican Republic and the five Central American countries. This programme essentially reflects the commitments made by these six countries under their 1998 free trade agreement. This programme provides for fundamental free trade on a broad front, with the exception of certain sensitive products.
Dr-CAFTA contains in Annex 3.3.6 tariff reduction obligations for most of these products. .
