Egypt plans adjusting trade treaties with US and Israel

Egypt aims to adjust both the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) the Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) treaty.

The Egyptian Ministry of Industry and Trade will be sending an official delegation to the United States on January 4-5, 2016, the Trade Minister Plenipotentiary of Egyptian Commercial Services Ali El-Leithi told Amwal Al Ghad Sunday.

El-Leithi said the delegation’s mission is to discuss adjusting the TIFA and reducing the required Israeli component in products exported under QIZ treaty.

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.

Egypt seeks to reduce the Israeli input to 8 percent, from 10.5 percent, El-Leithi added.

A week earlier sources from Egypt’s trade ministry told Amwal Al Ghad that an Egyptian official delegation headed by Ashraf Ezz El-Din, Head of QIZ Unit, visited Israel to discussing reducing the Israeli component in the QIZ treaty.

According to recent statistics from Egyptian Ministry of Trade, Egypt’s total exports of ready-made garments under the QIZ treaty are estimated at US$800 million annually.