The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has praised the House of Representatives for passing the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act (PTPA). According to the chamber, the bill will bring "tangible benefits" to American workers, farmers and businesses, while promoting the foreign-policy interests of the U.S. "More than 5,000 U.S. companies export their products to Peru, and over 80 percent of these are small and medium-sized companies that stand to benefit significantly from this trade agreement," said John Murphy, vice president of international affairs. "The U.S. International Trade Commission estimates this agreement will add a billion dollars to U.S. exports," he added. U.S. trade with Peru has doubled over the past three years, reaching $8.6bn in 2006. In the early 1990s, the U.S. unilaterally opened its market to Peru, and nearly everything imported from that country today enters the U.S. market duty-free. Americans selling goods to Peru, on the other hand, face average tariffs of 11 percent for manufactured goods and 16 percent for agricultural goods. The PTPA will eliminate nearly all tariffs on U.S. exports to Peru within a few years, giving American workers and farmers "a level playing field," the chamber said.
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