The Impact of the Andean Trade Preference Act Twelfth ... - USITC

EcuadorThe growth rate of the Ecuadorian economy dropped steeply to 3.0 percent in 2005 from 6.9percent in 2004, reflecting in part the country’s ongoing political turmoil, 107 but mainlyreflecting a slowdown in the expansion of the petroleum sector that began immediately afterthe second pipeline opened in 2003. Even so, owing to high world prices of petroleum,Ecuador realized a 25-percent increase in its overall imports. 108U.S. exports to Ecuador increased 17 percent from 2004, to $1.7 billion. Ecuador was thedestination of 19 percent of all U.S. exports to ATPA countries in 2005, as well as in 2004(table 2-13 and figure 2-5). Thirty-five percent of such exports consisted of machinery,equipment, and parts, but heavy petroleum oils were the number one U.S. export product tothat country. U.S. exports of heavy petroleum to Ecuador soared by 189 percent in 2005,driven in part by higher prices. Other notable developments included significant increasesin U.S. exports to Ecuador of transmission and reception apparatus and of automotivevehicles and parts. On the negative side, U.S. exports to Ecuador of plastics and paperproducts declined in 2005. In addition, Ecuador’s market for U.S. cereals, which expanded84 percent in 2004, shrunk 27 percent in 2005.BoliviaThe Bolivian economy grew 4 percent in 2005, the same rate as in 2004. The strength ofBolivia’s hydrocarbon sector mitigated the adverse effects of the country’s continuedpolitical uncertainty on foreign investment. Bolivia’s imports expanded by some 26percent. 109 In 2004, the last year for which data are available, the United States was the thirdlargest supplier of Bolivia’s imports after Brazil and Argentina, accounting for only 14percent of the total.In 2005, U.S. exports to Bolivia amounted to $186 million, 5 percent more than in 2004(table 2-13). Bolivia’s relatively small share in the ATPA market for U.S. exports continuedto diminish to 2.1 percent of the total in 2005. In 2001, this share was 3.2 percent. Forty-fivepercent of all U.S. exports to Bolivia consisted of machinery, equipment, and parts, destinedin part for use in the country’s natural gas fields.Motor vehicles and parts accounted for 9 percent of all U.S. exports to Bolivia in 2005; thegroup contained major shipments (valued at some $10 million) of special-purpose vehicles.Such exports were negligible in prior years.Jewelry accounted for some 8 percent of U.S. exports to Bolivia, consisting largely of U.S.-made jewelry components (gold chains, ropes, and clasps) to be assembled into whole pieces(e.g., necklaces and bracelets) for reexport to the United States and exports to third countries.107 Lucio Gutierrez, Ecuador’s president, who was removed in April 2005, has become the third presidentsince 1997 to be removed before the end of his term. Alfredo Palacio, the current president, is expected toserve until January 2007.108 EIU, Country Report, Ecuador, Apr. 2006, found at http://www.eiu.com, retrieved May 12, 2006.United Nations, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), PreliminaryOverview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2005, Dec. 2005, p. 113. Data cited fromthis source are preliminary.109 EIU, Country Report, Bolivia, Apr. 2006, found at http://www.eiu.com, retrieved May 12, 2006.2-32