Entrepreneurs To Ask for U.S. To Remove Textile Tariffs

Entrepreneurs are asking the government to seek the removal of tariffs on Bolivian textiles in its upcoming negotiations with the United States. However, they still consider the government’s current position to be positive.

Larry Serrate, Vice President of the Chamber of Exporters (CAMEX) in La Paz, stated that the executive’s intentions were good, but tariffs on Bolivian textiles must be removed. Also, the businessman said that the agreement with the U.S. should be sufficiently long-term that the textile sector can make extended investments in production.

“A business agreement should be long-term to promote investments; that’s what we need. What the country needs is to promote bigger investments,” declared Serrate. Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera stated in an interview with La Razón that Bolivia will propose a reduction of the current 20 percent tariff on textiles to 10 percent in upcoming business negotiations with the U.S.

The president of the National Chamber of Bolivian Exporters (CANEB), Goran Vranicic, said that the position of the executive is positive because textile manufacturing generates many jobs for Bolivia.

“[The 10 percent reduction] is excellent as long as we discount the advantage of countries that at this time enjoy preferential tariffs, so that we can compete. However, any negotiation is positive, and the will of the government to go back to exporting [to the U.S.] is good,” he indicated.

On November 7, the governments of Bolivia and the U.S. created an agreement based on five pillars. One point calls for “[strengthening] business relations between Bolivia and the U.S. through the Bolivian-American Chamber of Commerce Board of Commerce and Investment.”

On December 19, Vice Chancellor Juan Carlos Alurralde reported that between February and March of 2012, negotiations with the U.S. will aim for a “long-term business agreement” not restricted by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA).

The signed agreement between both governments came about after the U.S. decided to suspend ATPDEA’s funding in September 2008 after reports that Bolivia was not working toward the program’s goals of eradicating surplus cocaine plants and fighting drug trafficking. The president of CANEB has expressed his industry’s support for the government’s negotiations with the U.S.

“What we need is to have a product that can go into the United States and compete with our neighbors, who at this time have preferential tariffs,” he added.

As far as Luis Urquizo, President of the Federation of Private Entrepreneurs of La Paz (FEPLP), is concerned, the executive’s position is positive, since the cities of La Paz and El Alto were the regions that suffered the most from the suspension of ATPDEA funding.

According to the data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), national exports of textiles to the U.S. decreased from $7.1 million to $5.9 million between 2009 and this October.