US strikes trade frameworks with Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador

The US announced new reciprocal trade framework agreements with four Latin American countries Thursday that it said are intended to increase access for US exporters and strengthen trade rules, particularly around intellectual property.

Under the agreements, the tariff rate for Ecuador will remain at 15%, while Argentina, Guatemala and El Salvador will remain at 10%, a senior administration official told reporters on a conference call. Specific goods and resources not produced by the US will be granted targeted relief from President Donald Trump's tariffs.

The official, one of several who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, did not provide a full list of products that will be granted relief, nor were they itemized in a series of statements put out by the White House. But coffee, bananas and cocoa could be among the products, one of the officials said.

"Our expectation is that there will be some positive effects for prices for things like coffee, cocoa, bananas," the official said. "Where we don't have domestic production, we don't necessarily need to have the tariff."

The statements concerning the frameworks with Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala said the US will remove its tariffs on those countries' exports of "certain qualifying exports that cannot be grown, mined, or naturally produced in the United States in sufficient quantities."

Exports of certain products, such as textiles and apparel products, originating under the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement exported by El Salvador and Guatemala would also receive relief, according to the White House.

One of the officials said that in addition to agreeing to resolve longstanding disputes over intellectual property protections, all of the countries have agreed not to impose digital services taxes on US tech firms.