US Morocco Free Trade Agreement

The United States and Morocco sign a Free Trade Agreement on June 15, 2004. The agreement entered into force on January 1, 2006. The United States-Morocco FTA is a comprehensive agreement that supports the significant economic and political reforms that are underway in Morocco and provides for improved commercial opportunities for U.S exports to Morocco by reducing and eliminating more than 95 percent of all goods and services. In addition to key U.S export sectors gaining immediate duty-free access to Morocco for increased regulatory transparency and the protection of intellectual property rights.



In addition, for agricutural, banking and insurance industry, Morocco took the protection period policy. It also refers that the materials of  textile exported from morocoo which must be used by U.S or Morocco produced. The issued relating to the definition of direct shipment and Morocco's application of tariff-rate quotas for wheat imports from the United States have arisen since the FTA's implementation. U.S.concerns with respect to these issues were raised at the first meeting of  the bilateral Joint Committee( the FTA's governing body) in March 2008, and at a number of other meetings, as well as in written exchanges before and after the Joint Committee meeting, including with respect to wheat, at the June 2008 meeting of subcommittee on Agricultural Trade.


Since the U.S.-Morocco FTA entered into force, there have been significant increases in bilateral trade- overall trade in goods between the Uniterd States and Morocco increased 148 percent between 2005 and 2008 from $927 million in 2005 to $2.3 billion in 2008. While bilateral trade has declined during 2009 due to golbal economic conditions, but it also has risen to $1.8 billion in 2011. U.S. goods exports in 2011 were $2.8 billion, up to 45 percent from the previous year.  Corresponding U.S. imports from Morocco were $996 million. Morocco is now the 55th largest export market for U.S. goods.

It's no doubt that this agreement spurs both U.S. and Morocco 's trading.