U.S.-Ecuador Agreement on Reciprocal Trade: What to Know

Washington and Quito recently strengthened their trade ties with a new Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART). First announced in November and finalized following rounds of talks in March, the deal comes as the United States recalibrates its trade strategy, signaling a broader shift in its engagement with Latin America. Ecuador's lack of of a bilateral trade deal with Washington makes the ART a significant development. 

Ecuador agreed to cut or reduce tariffs on several categories of U.S. imports, including agricultural goods, machinery, chemicals, and medical products. It also agreed to provide preferential treatment across more than 90 percent of its agricultural tariff schedule by removing the Andean Price Band System, a variable tariff mechanism that adjusts duties based on world market prices to protect local producers so that tariffs remain fixed and generally lower. For sensitive products such as sorghum, poultry, pork, dairy, and soybean oil, the agreement proposes quota-based, duty-free access, facilitating greater market access for U.S. exporters.

In return, the United States agreed to ease tariffs on select Ecuadorian imports. The deal removes tariffs on about 53 percent of Ecuador’s non-oil exports, covering roughly $2.8 billion in trade. Products that benefit from the pact include bananas, flowers, cacao, and other agricultural goods, many of which will now enter the U.S. market under preferential conditions, with reduced or even zero tariffs compared to standard rates.

The agreement also covers non-tariff barriers and regulatory practices, signaling a broader effort to align Ecuador’s trade regime to international standards and U.S. expectations. Ecuador agreed to accelerate import licensing; accept U.S. standards for vehicles, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices; and consolidate its health and safety standards. In addition, the deal incorporates provisions on intellectual property, environmental protection, and trade facilitation.

For Ecuador, securing a trade deal with the United States has been a longstanding national objective, dating back to the early 2000s following Ecuador’s participation in regional trade discussions and the subsequent failure of negotiations of an FTA between Andean countries and the United States. Unlike neighboring countries such as Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has historically lacked a comparable bilateral accord with the United States and has instead relied on temporary and limited frameworks such as the Andean Trade Preference Act. As a result, Ecuadorian exports—particularly bananas, shrimp, and flowers—have faced unpredictable access to the U.S. market, complicating the government’s long-term planning and investment.

Despite this, the United States is Ecuador’s main trading partner, taking in about 27.5 percent of its exports. In 2024 alone, Ecuador exported roughly $6.36 billion in goods to the United States, with major categories including mineral fuels and oils, fish and crustaceans, fruits and nuts, cocoa products, and flowers and plants. Agriculture is especially important, constituting over half of Ecuadorian exports, and roughly 85 percent of non-oil exports while relying heavily on stable access to the U.S. market

For the United States, the deal supports broader economic and geopolitical goals by strengthening supply chain resilience and reinforcing U.S. economic engagement in Latin America. Total U.S.-Ecuador trade in goods reached about $17.6 billion in 2025, reflecting the importance of the bilateral relationship. The agreement aims to expand export opportunities for U.S. farmers, manufacturers, and service providers, while also reducing the U.S. trade deficit, which has been one of the main objectives of the current U.S. administration.

Moving forward, both countries must complete the required domestic procedures to fully operationalize the deal’s conditions and ensure tariff reductions, regulatory alignment, and transparency measures to enable the proper implementation of the agreement. Both sides will track progress through joint systems to ensure full compliance.

However, challenges may arise when it comes to enforcing labor standards. Ecuador is currently on the U.S. list of 60 countries facing Section 301 investigations for failures to prevent goods produced with forced labor. This designation means that the United States could closely scrutinize Ecuadorian exports and act if labor commitments are not fully met. Should the investigation result in tariffs, the anticipated gains of the agreement could be constrained, especially in the agriculture sector given prior reports and risk assessment pointing to potential forced-labor vulnerabilities in segments of Ecuador’s agriculture supply chains.

At the same time, while labor compliance remains key for the agreement’s proper implementation, Ecuador must also direct future efforts toward economically significant export sectors that currently fall outside the scope of the ART. According to the Ecuador’s National Aquaculture Chamber, shrimp exports reached about $8.4 billion in 2025, with the United States receiving roughly 23 percent that output. In addition, Ecuador’s tuna and canned fish exports reached nearly $1.7 billion in 2025. These figures underscore Ecuador’s position as the leading seafood exporter in Latin America and the world’s top shrimp exporter, making the sector central to export revenues.