Weekly Report - 17 January 2006

URUGUAY | No 'separate FTA' with the US. Just under a fortnight ago Economy Minister Danilo Astori said that among his top priorities was the liberalisation of trade with the US and China. On 12 January US senator Mel Martí­nez, member of a visiting congressional delegation, said the treaty had already been concluded, and that all that remained pending was its ratification. This provoked a political and diplomatic storm. Senator Martí­nez's claim was refuted by Foreign Minister Reinaldo Gargano (who added that no such deal was possible while the US retained its agricultural subsidies) and the US embassy later stated that he had, in fact, been alluding to the bilateral investment treaty, not an FTA. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said that if Uruguay celebrated a separate FTA with the US it would cease to be a member of Mercosur. The issue appeared to have been set to rest on 12 January when the Assistant Secretary for State for Western Hemisphere affairs, Tom Shannon, stated in Buenos Aires that FTA negotiations with Uruguay were 'not on the agenda'.