Bloomberg Line – Colombia will propose to the USA. Count the entry into force of the regulations that eliminates the recognition of US vehicle certification standards imported, Arranged for next May, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
The proposal will be made formally Thursday, April 24 during a meeting that will hold the minister of Commerce (E), Rusinque Cielo, and the Colombian ambassador to the United States, Daniel García-Peña with Ambassador Jamieson Greer, director of the Office of the United States Commercial Representative (USTR), he told Bloomberg Line The person with knowledge of the measure, who requested anonymity for not being authorized to talk about the subject.
In a letter on April 11, Greer warned that, if this measure was adopted, the United States could suspend the total export of vehicles to Colombia.
This regulation of Colombia exclusively raises the recognition of the certifications endorsed by the Economic Commission for the United Nations Europe (CEPE), leaving aside the US system, known as Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).
“I travel with her (Rusinque Cielo) to meet tomorrow with the Commerce Representative, Mr. Greer, with a very clear message,” said Ambassador García-Peña on Wednesday during the 70-year summit of the Colombian National Chamber of Commerce, which took place at the Hilton Bogotá hotel. “We want to solve the matter, look how we achieve it, solve the legitimate concerns that Americans have. Also propose our agenda because we are convinced that trade is a fundamental factor for the two countries. ”
During this event, the ambassador declined to comment on a specific request for information that made him Bloomberg Line.
See more: Colombia formally presented the United States to negotiate 10% tariff
The meeting between the trade authorities of Colombia and the United States occurs in the midst of the negotiation process that both countries advance after the imposition of a 10% tariff on Colombian exports, and in response to the letter sent by the ambassador Greer to the minister (e) Rusinque, in which he pointed out that such regulation Threatens a bilateral trade of US $ 700 million a year.
“Colombia’s insistence to change the certification requirements for vehicles and their components that meet federal motorized vehicle safety standards (FMVSS), Without providing any proof that the current method to demonstrate the conformity of the US FMVSS does not meet Colombia’s safety and performance objectives, it is an unfair commercial practice, which can generate a rapid coercive action by the US ”, Greer wrote in the letter.
“There is a way of advancing that allows Colombia to achieve and avoid putting a barrier to US exports. I urge the Colombian government to immediately applace these rules so that our teams can find a permanent solution ”the diplomat added in the letter.
Bloomberg Line He consulted the minister (e) Rusinque on the postponement proposal that will take to the United States and in front of what they will request in return. However, it was not possible to obtain an answer.
During the 70 -year Summit of the Colombo American Chamber of Commerce, the official said that they have been holding high -level and institutional meetings seeking to achieve greater services, a greater participation in the public procurement market and better access to the US market for Colombian products.
See more: Colombia cannot stay on the list of Trump tariffs: the call from the private sector
Although he indicated that this bilateral relationship is fundamental for Colombia, he said that it is important to advance in the interests and concerns of each of the parties. “To mention them, in the case of Colombia, they include better conditions for our steel and aluminum exports, Accelerate health admissibility processes in the United States, real access to our palm oil biodiesel, among others”He said.
Regarding the concern of the North American country indicated by Greer, he said that from the Ministry of Commerce it has been monitored with the corresponding entities, “Always looking to comply with our commitments and verifying what corresponds to commercial defense measures”.
