China – Total trade in goods with China has increased by 8.1% since 2011. As a target for Costa Rican exports, trade with China increased by 12% in the years following the entry into force of the free trade agreement. On the other hand, imports from China increased by an average of 10.1% Under Costa Rica`s free trade agreements are trade agreements with:Canada – After the existence of the free trade agreement between Costa Rica and Canada, total trade between the two countries grew by an average of 7% per year. Costa Rica`s exports to Canada were up 9.7%, while imports from Canada were up 6.2%. The corresponding provisions of the free trade agreement will allow more than 60% of the products of the two countries to enter the other country`s market immediately duty-free and will allow for the gradual elimination of tariffs on 30% of products over the next 5 to 15 years. According to the website of China`s Ministry of Commerce, China`s top exports that will benefit from the free trade agreement include textiles, machinery, electrical appliances, vegetables, fruits, automobiles, chemicals, raw fur and leather. At the same time, thanks to tariff reductions, Costa Rican coffee, beef, pork, fruit juice and jam products can also debut in the Chinese market at lower prices. According to Chinese customs statistics, the volume of bilateral trade between China and Costa Rica reached $3.8 billion, an increase of 19.2 percent over the previous year, of which China exported US$690 million and imported US$3.11 billion. Costa Rica is increasingly becoming one of China`s leading investment and trade countries in the Central American region. In the area of merchandise trade, China-Costa Rica will gradually introduce zero tariffs on more than 90 percent of its products and enter the “era of zero tariffs.” So far, China has signed and implemented a free trade agreement with ASEAN, Chile, Pakistan, New Zealand, Singapore, Peru and Costa Rica.
At the same time, the mainland as well as Hong Kong and Macau signed and implemented a Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). The mainland and Taiwan have signed and implemented the Framework Agreement on Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation (ECFA). Dominican Republic – Free trade between Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic was introduced following the signing of one of Costa Rica`s cross-border free trade agreements with the Dominican Republic. Thanks to the implementation of free trade relations between Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, total merchandise trade between the two countries has increased by an average of 10.2% since 2002. The negotiations and signing of the China-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement reflect the determination and confidence of China and Costa Rica by strengthening cooperation and deepening economic and trade relations and working together to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results. CARICOM – Among Costa Rica`s free trade agreements that govern relations between Costa Rica and a group of countries is the free trade agreement with CARICOM. CARICOM consists of four countries (Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Belize and Guyana). The agreement was signed in 2005. Costa Rica is a relatively small country that is open to trade in goods and services, as well as foreign investment. Until 2016, many Costa Rican free trade agreements governed the country`s trade relations with a total of forty to nine countries. As a result, eighty percent of Costa Rica`s exports go to countries with which the country has free trade agreements.
August 2 – The China-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement – China`s first bilateral free trade agreement with a Central American country – officially entered into force on August 1. As major trading partners, the two countries believe the new free trade agreement will help strengthen mutual trade relations and significantly increase business opportunities. Costa Rica has become a major trading partner of China in the Central American region, and China has become Costa Rica`s second largest trading partner after the United States. On May 31, 2011, the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica and China approved the Free Trade Agreement. On the 13th. In June 2011, the President of Costa Rica signed the agreement. Costa Rica is China`s second largest trading partner in Central America, while China is Costa Rica`s second largest trading partner. In recent years, bilateral trade between the two countries has grown rapidly. In June 2007, China and Costa Rica established diplomatic relations.
In November 2008, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Costa Rica and announced the opening of free trade negotiations between China and Costa Rica with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. The two sides also reached a broad consensus on intellectual property, trade remedies, rules of origin, customs procedures, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, cooperation and many other areas. In recent years, China and Costa Rica have established good cooperation in the fields of bilateral trade, investment and employment contracts, and bilateral economic and trade exchanges have shown a rapid development trend. Chile – Total merchandise trade between Chile and Costa Rica has grown at an annual rate of 10.4% since the entry into force of the free trade agreement between the two countries in 2003. Between 1996 and 2001, trade between Chile and Costa Rica grew much more slowly (3 per cent) per year. In the period following the free trade agreement, Costa Rica`s exports to its South American trading partner grew by 13 percent year-on-year, while imports grew at an annual rate of 10 percent. On November 17, 2008, China and Costa Rica signed a Memorandum of Understanding to open negotiations on a free trade agreement. The first round of negotiations took place on 21 January 2009 […].