THE POSSIBILITY of a Free Trade Area with the US is in jeopardy once again. Members of a senior delegation of congressional staffers, addressing the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo, yesterday said that if FTA negotiations are not launched in the next three weeks or one month at most, Egypt will lose the opportunity of ever concluding such a deal. Niveen Wahish listened in. One of the congressional members explained that in a year's time, the US administration will lose its "fast-track" mandate which permits Congress to approve or reject trade deals without amendments. Without it, Congress would be free to reject specific points in any agreement, making it much more difficult to pass. Egyptian officials and members of the private sector had been confident that negotiations would be launched this month. However, as the member of congress who preferred to remain anonymous said, the "FTA has been taken off course by some events that are not related to the FTA, like political reform issues." FTA negotiations with the US have been on and off for years. Whenever Egyptian officials felt confident they would be launched, US officials dampened hopes, claiming Egypt needed to work on reforming its economy first. This time around the Egyptians had been hoping that the renewed economic reform effort triggered by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's cabinet would secure the deal. But now, the US administration says Egypt needs to work more on its political reforms as well. Bob Holste, chief of staff, congressman Phil English, and a member of the delegation acknowledged that the "FTA should not be used as a hammer to force change." However, Holste stressed, "It is important to recognise that progress on political reform is important for them [members of congress] to vote on an FTA." Members of the Egyptian private sector attending the meeting expressed dismay that the FTA be waived because of political reform. "Political reform is important but it has to come from within. And it will take time," said Taher Helmy, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo. Helmy said congressional members and the US administration should recognise that "an FTA is a catalyst for reform" and warned that not launching it could backfire. "You are closing doors, a venue for reform," Helmy said, adding that Egypt is an anchor country in the region and anything that happens here is emulated by its neighbours. Another member of congress suggested that Egyptians should lobby quickly to get the message across to the US administration that the FTA is not a reward "but a commitment for reform in itself".
