611.2131/141
Joint Statement by the Acting Secretary of State and the Colombian Minister (Lozano), Issued to the Press on December 15, 1933
The Acting Secretary of State and the Minister of Colombia today signed a reciprocal trade agreement. The agreement will come into force after the necessary legislative action shall have been taken in the United States and Colombia. The minimum term of the agreement is two years from the date of its coming into force.
On the part of the United States the agreement provides that certain specified products of Colombia shall continue to be exempt from import duties, federal excise taxes and prohibitions on importation, and also that state excise taxes affecting interstate or foreign commerce, in so far as they are subject to statutory control by the Federal Government, shall not exceed the maximum tax at present levied by any State.
The agreement provides that Colombia on its part will reduce its customs duties on specified products from the United States and will refrain from increasing them on certain other specified products. As regards the products listed in the agreement Colombia makes commitments with respect to internal taxes and prohibitions similar to those made by the United States.
This agreement, which is of mutual benefit to the two countries, furnishes a practical example of the policy of “neighborliness”, in the American continents, and it is hoped may lead to other bilateral agreements of a similar nature having as their object the restoration and improvement of trade relations.