SAN SALVADOR, Jan 29 (Reuters) – El Salvador has signed a trade agreement with the United States, El Salvador’s ambassador to the U.S. Milena Mayorga said on Thursday, without adding details on the content of the deal.
In a statement last November, the U.S. embassy said it was working on a reciprocal trade deal with the Central American nation under which El Salvador would address “non-tariff” barriers, including simplifying regulation for U.S. imports.
This included accepting U.S. standards for U.S. vehicle safety, motor emissions, medical devices and pharmaceuticals, it said in a statement, adding that El Salvador also committed to easing rules regarding agricultural imports, it said, including less restrictions for U.S. cheese and meats.
The U.S., meanwhile, would remove tariffs on some Salvadoran imports such as clothes and goods not produced in sufficient quantities within the U.S., the embassy said in November.
El Salvador already has provisions for free trade with the United States along with much of Central America and the Dominican Republic under the CAFTA-DR trade pact.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele posted a photo of delegates from both countries holding signed documents, saying this marked “the first reciprocal trade agreement in the entire Western Hemisphere.”
The Western Hemisphere has long counted a number of free trade pacts.
Separately on Thursday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum held a call with U.S. President Donald Trump, during which she said they had discussed progress on the review of the USMCA free trade pact between the two nations and Canada.
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Nelson Renteria; Writing by Sarah Morland;)
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