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A few weeks ago, I visited Berkane, in Morocco’s Oriental region, where I saw Groupe Kantari employees proudly packaging for export to the United States tens of thousands of the delicious oranges and clementines that have made Berkane internationally famous.
Fifteen years ago, exporting to the United States on that scale was unimaginable. What changed? In 2006, the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA) went into effect – giving an enormous boost to trade and investment ties between the United States and Morocco and creating great economic growth opportunities for both of our countries. Since the signing of the FTA, tens of thousands of Moroccans and Americans have benefitted from this dramatic increase in economic cooperation and trade.
Last year, despite the damage done by COVID-19, Morocco exported a record $267 million worth of agricultural products to the United States, including 45,000 tons of citrus fruit, a 155 percent increase from 2006.
Overall, bilateral trade in goods between the United States and Morocco reached approximately $5.1 billion in 2019 – a staggering five-fold increase in value since the agreement took effect.
U.S. and Moroccan businesses, including budding entrepreneurs on both sides of the Atlantic, continue to discover the innumerable benefits of the FTA – the only U.S. free trade agreement on the African continent – and there are still many untapped opportunities.
I strongly encourage Moroccan businesses and entrepreneurs to explore the U.S. market and take advantage of the Free Trade Agreement by investing in new ventures or exporting your amazing, world-famous products and services to the United States.
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The agreement will also help expand Moroccan business leadership into sub-Saharan African markets. U.S. exports to Morocco become inputs for Moroccan products which are then re-exported, through trade agreements with the European Union and countries in the Middle East and Africa. In this way both America and Morocco profit from our trade, and realize His Majesty King Mohammad VI’s vision of Morocco as a “Gateway to Africa.”
In fact, when it comes to trade, “kulna rab7een” – we all benefit – from the unprecedented investments that accompany increased economic exchange between our two countries.
For example, investments in Morocco, supported by the agreement, have helped make the Kingdom globally competitive in strategic sectors and high value-add industries like aerospace and automotive, in partnership with many world-renowned U.S. companies. Today, more than 150 U.S. companies operate in Morocco.
They have invested around $2 billion in the Kingdom and created over 100,000 jobs.
Those companies – like Pfizer, Merck, Coca-Cola, Lear Automotive (with 10 factories in the Tangier Free Zone and Kenitra Atlantic Zone), Polydesign, Aptiv, Visteon, Hexcel, Spirit Aerosystems, Cummins, Greif, Jacob Delafon, and Fruit of the Loom – benefit from Morocco’s skilled and educated workforce, world-class infrastructure, and easy access to numerous other markets. As a result of this investment, companies have seen their profits and workforce grow.
Here’s one example: Eaton, a world leader in intelligent power management, has vastly increased the size of its facilities in Morocco since the Free Trade Agreement came into force – from 1,200 m2 before 2006, to 14,000 m2 today. Its workforce in Morocco has quadrupled.
Last year, Moroccan exports to the United States reached $1.04 billion, and the prospects for further growth for exports to the United States and elsewhere are enormous. As Moroccans aspire to grow businesses globally, the Free Trade Agreement will support their ambitions.
One example is Société Impériale des Thés et Infusions (SITI), based in Marrakech, which grew from a small family business to a large enterprise after beginning work with an American business partner and expanding its exports to the United States. It now employs more than 1,000 people (up from 250) and has seen a 10-fold increase in exports across the globe.
Similarly, DARI Couspate, based in Rabat-Sale, increased its exports to the United States almost three times thanks to the FTA, giving Americans the chance to experience the best of Moroccan couscous. What’s more: DARI’s work in the American market pushed it to innovate and expand its range of products, which created opportunities for increased exports to Europe.
This is a critical and often overlooked benefit of free trade with the United States: it encourages innovation – especially technological – and opens doors to markets across the globe.
Morocco’s Federation Interprofessionnelle du Secteur Avicole, for example, has grown significantly under the Free Trade Agreement, because of U.S. technology that has helped to expand their export capacity.
Moroccan poultry processing plants buy most of their high-quality equipment from U.S. sources, and also rely on affordable U.S. feed grain. The resulting improved productivity creates jobs in rural areas and positions Morocco as the poultry industry leader on the African continent.
We have much to celebrate when it comes to the U.S.-Morocco commercial relationship, but further growth does not happen on its own. Concerted investments of time and resources, from both public and private actors, will allow us to realize continued growth, job creation, and prosperity.
I encourage Moroccan businesses interested in export opportunities to the United States to contact our SelectUSA program (selectusa.gov) which can, for example, help you navigate the process of opening an office in the U.S. and connect you with potential partners.
As we conclude the 15th anniversary year of free trade between the United States and Morocco, I am confident that our two countries will continue to grow together over the next 15 years and well beyond. Kulna rab7een!
