The Ministry of Production, Foreign Trade and Investment of Ecuador reported this Saturday that the United States Government eliminated the 15% tariff imposed by President Donald Trump on 105 national products since last Thursday, within the framework of the agreement announced that same day.
The White House had indicated on Thursday that the United States was committed to eliminating tariffs on certain qualified exports from Ecuador that cannot be produced or obtained naturally in the North American country in sufficient quantities to supply its domestic consumption.
Among them are coffee, cocoa, pineapple, mango, pitahaya, other tropical fruits, fruit juices, spices, banana, palm heart, plantain, orange, tomato and others. According to the ministry, this elimination has been in effect since Thursday.
In exchange for the elimination of tariffs, as detailed on Thursday, the framework agreement contemplates that Ecuador reduce or eliminate tariffs in key sectors for the United States such as machinery, health products, information and communication technology (ICT) goods, chemicals, vehicle engines and certain agricultural products.
Likewise, Ecuador must evaluate how to eliminate what the United States calls “non-tariff barriers” considering that they “affect trade in priority areas.”
Among these “non-tariff barriers”, the White House indicated that Ecuador is reforming its import licensing and facility registration systems for food and agricultural products in order to improve transparency and predictability”, where it has committed not to restrict access “by the mere use of certain terms related to cheese and meat.”
The Ecuadorian Government indicated this Saturday that it is currently maintaining a trade negotiation process with the United States on several products, “which is still in development.”
In 2024, Ecuador’s trade balance with the United States had a deficit of 644.5 million dollars, according to statistics from the Central Bank of Ecuador, registering exports worth 7,024 million dollars and imports worth 7,668 million dollars.
However, if oil and its derivatives are removed from the equation, the trade exchange had a surplus for Ecuador of 2,306 million dollars, registering exports worth 5,043 million dollars and imports worth 2,737 million dollars.
