The free trade agreement between Mexico and Panama became effective on July 1, 2015, Panama's Ministry of Trade and Industry said.
The FTA was signed in Panama on April 3, 2014. It was ratified by Mexico on April 20, 2015.
Under the FTA, Mexico will immediately receive preferential tariff treatment on 72 percent of agreed products, including copper, aluminum, steel, automobiles, auto parts, paints, cosmetics, and perfumes. Tariffs on the remaining products will be lowered gradually, after five years.
Panama noted that the FTA will give it access to a potential market of over 112m people – a market some 36 times larger than the Panamanian market.
It is expected that the FTA will pave the way for Panama to become a full member of the Pacific Alliance (PA) trade bloc, comprising Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico.
This has been excerpted from the 3 July 2015 edition of Tax-News and is available in its entirety at: http://www.tax-news.com/news/MexicoPanama_FTA_Effective____68509.html