ASSESSMENTS

Ecuador, U.S.: Cooperation Continues Amid Strained Relations

Jun 28, 2013 | 10:16 GMT

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa speaks at a press conference on June 27.

(RODRIGO BUENDIA/AFP/Getty Images)

Summary

The diplomatic row between Ecuador and the United States will have a negligible effect on the countries' bilateral relations. On June 27, Ecuador announced its unilateral withdrawal from a preferential trade agreement known as the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act. The act was a U.S.-sponsored initiative that granted Ecuador lowered tariffs on goods exported to the United States in exchange for counternarcotics cooperation. According to an Ecuadorian official, the country withdrew because Washington threatened to terminate the agreement after Quito allegedly considered offering asylum to former Booz Allen Hamilton employee Edward Snowden.

Relations between the two countries were already strained before Quito announced its withdrawal, and the agreement was unlikely to even be renewed. Nevertheless, neither country can afford to alienate the other. Ecuador relies economically on the United States, which buys nearly half of all Ecuadorian exports, and the United States relies on Ecuadorian cooperation in Washington's regional efforts to stem the flow of narcotics.

The two countries need each other for trade and security. ...

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