Egypt negotiating U.S. to reduce Israeli component in QIZ deal

Egypt is negotiating with the United States to adjust the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) treaty, Egyptian Minister of Finance Tarek Qabil announced in Washington on Wednesday.

Qabil met in Washington with U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to discuss Israeli component in products exported under QIZ treaty from 10.5 percent to 8 percent, as it had been with Jordan.

In July 1999, Egypt and the United States signed the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) as a preliminary step towards a free trade agreement between the two countries. Proceeding in that same direction, the U.S. announced the formation of Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs) in Egypt on December 10, 2004.

Signed in late 2004, the QIZ agreement granted Egyptian clothing manufacturers zero-tariff access to the US market as long as their products contained at least 10.5 percent Israeli input.

On the sidelines of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s visit to the U.S., Minister Qabil, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and Minister of Finance Amr el-Garhy met with Ross to discuss adjusting the TIFA and potentials to boost trade exchange rates.

The U.S. Secretary of Commerce, from his part, expressed his country’s keenness to enhance economic relations with Egypt during the upcoming period and to increase bilateral trade and investments in a manner that would serve both countries’ common interests, while noting that Egypt was key partner for the US.