USTR Schwab off to UAE, Oman for trade pact talks

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 - U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab headed to the Middle East on Monday to explore whether a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates is still possible, a U.S. trade official said.

Schwab will hold talks in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, two of the seven small Gulf states that comprise the United Arab Emirates, said Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office.

"It will be a chance to make a push for the FTA" and check on outstanding issues, Spicer said in an e-mail.

Schwab will also visit Oman to check on implementation of a free trade pact that was approved by the U.S. Congress two years ago but still has not gone into force, Spicer said.

The United States and the United Arab Emirates began talks on a free trade agreement in early 2005.

However, the negotiations made slow process and were thrown off track in 2006, when outrage erupted in Congress over Dubai Ports World's acquisition of port facilities in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans and Miami as part of its purchase of British company P&O.

Dubai Ports World eventually sold P&O's American operations to U.S. insurer AIG's asset management division, Global Investment Group, to calm the furor.

Early last year, the United States and the UAE agreed it would be impossible to complete a free trade pact before White House trade promotion authority expired on June 30, 2007, Schwab's office said in a 2007 annual report.

The two countries decided to pursue another option, which they called a "Trade and Investment Framework Agreement-Plus," for boosting economic ties, the report said.

If the United States and the UAE were to revive free trade talks, it would fall to the next U.S. president to get it through Congress since President George W. Bush leaves office in January.

Meanwhile, U.S. trade officials have said they hoped the free trade pact with Oman could take force this year.

The U.S. Senate gave final congressional approval to that agreement in September 2006, but the United States has been waiting for Oman to enact certain regulations and legislation.

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