According to BioBioChile, the Undersecretary of International Economic Relations (Subrei, the Chilean Foreign Ministry's trade office), Paula Estévez, acknowledged that in the negotiation with the United States "we are not going to get 100% of our products to zero" tariff. She added that "that is not the objective of the negotiation".
Estévez spoke at the fifth edition of Global Trade Day, organized by Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores. The US ambassador to Chile, Brandon Judd, also attended the event.
Her remarks refer to the 12.5% tariff that Washington applied to Chile. That levy came after a US investigation into the country's "lack of action" to combat trade in products made with forced labor.
A tariff works like a toll at customs. When a Chilean product enters the United States, the importer pays that extra percentage, which makes it more expensive than the competition. Today about 53% of Chilean products enter free of that charge, according to the undersecretary.
On the other side are strategic products that do pay the tariff. Estévez mentioned salmon, timber, wine and fruit. If you work in any of those sectors or depend on them, the negotiation affects you directly. The goal is to expand the exempt percentage and add other strategic products.
Chile and the United States are negotiating an Agreement on Reciprocal Trade, known as ART. Estévez said the talks are taking place "as equals".
The undersecretary explained why total zero is not on the table. She said US trade policy changed for domestic reasons: reindustrialization, tax revenue and the attempt to balance trade with each country. Chile has a trade surplus with the United States, meaning it sells more to it than it buys.
"In this new scenario, we have to know what the limits of the negotiation are", she said.
Estévez noted that Chile has 36 trade agreements with 66 economies, which give access to about 89% of world gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, the country is currently negotiating 10 new agreements.
On the relationship with the two powers, the official maintained that "Chile has not taken any side". China is its top trading partner. The United States is second, or first if copper is excluded, and the second-largest investor in Chile, behind Canada.
Estévez also denied that the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States has ended. "The Treaty remains in force", she said. Among its benefits she mentioned H1B1 visas, which only Chile and Singapore have and which allow people to work temporarily in that country. The undersecretary did not give a timeline for closing the reciprocal agreement.