The United States-Israel Free Trade Agreement is a trade pact between the State of Israel and the United States of America established in 1985 that lowers some barriers to trade in some goods.

[edit] History of Trade Agreement

Negotiations for the pact began January 1, 1984 and concluded February 1, 1985. The pact was signed on April 22, 1985. Implementing legislation was introduced into the U.S. Congress on April 29 of that year by Rep. James C. Wright, Jr. (D-Texas); it was ratified by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 7 by a 422-0 vote, and by the U.S. Senate on May 23 by a voice vote. The pact was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on June 11, and implemented on September 1.

During the negotiations, the FBI found the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in possession of classified information outlining the US negotiating position. The document in question, a report from the International Trade Commission to US Trade Representative William E. Brock contained proprietary data provided by US corporations under conditions of strict confidentiality.

Since 1989, the US cumulative trade deficit with Israel has reached $62.65 billion, adjusted for inflation.

On April 29, 2009 The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy submitted a legal filing to the United States Trade Representative (USTR) calling for suspension of the US-Israel Free Trade Area.

"The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep) "Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974" filing includes previously unreleased internal International Trade Commission (ITC) files recently obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and testimony from US counterintelligence agencies and concerned American industries." - BusinessWire

[edit] References

• USTR Site on US-Israel FTA
• Quantitative Analysis of the US-Israel FTA
• [1] Petition under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 for Suspension of the US-Israel Free Trade Area

v • d • e United States free trade agreements Existing Bilateral Australia · Bahrain · Chile · Israel · Jordan · Morocco · Oman · Peru · Singapore Multilateral Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) · North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Pending Awaiting legislation Colombia · South Korea · Panama Proposed Bilateral Ecuador · Ghana · Indonesia · Kenya · Kuwait · Malaysia · Mauritius · Mozambique · New Zealand · Taiwan · United Arab Emirates · Uruguay Multilateral Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) · Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA) · Transatlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA) · Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific Region (FTAAP) Suspended Southern African Customs Union (on hold since 2006) · Thailand (on hold after 2006 coup) · Qatar (on hold since 2006) Defunct or expired Canada (expanded into North American Free Trade Agreement)