Mercosur expresses solidarity with U.S.-spurned Bolivia
www.chinaview.cn 2008-12-17 11:19:58
SAUIPE COAST, Brazil, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The 36th Common Market of the South (Mercosur) Leaders Summit expressed solidarity with Bolivia on Tuesday in a communique, following U.S. President George W. Bush's suspension of Bolivia's trade preferences, which took effect Monday.
Mercosur will import Bolivian products worth 30 million U.S. dollars in 2009 in response to the U.S. government's decision to cancel Bolivia's designation as a beneficiary country under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA), citing La Paz's supposed lack of collaboration in the fight against drug trafficking.
The suspension implies that all Bolivian textiles and manufactures must pay tariffs to enter the U.S. market, the main source of income for many in South America's poorest nation.
"In solidarity with the government and people of Bolivia, we concur on the importance of agreeing on concrete emergency measures to support Bolivia, in view of the economic and social difficulties and the lack of access to the markets, against the recent unilateral suspension of extra-regional tariff preferences," the communique said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/17/content_10517902.htm