Panama seeks review of U.S. trade pact, flags certain farm goods

Panama on Wednesday said it had requested a review of the terms and conditions of a trade agreement in place with the United States since 2012.

The Central American country is seeking dialogue to protect its local production of rice, milk products, chicken and pork, the government said in a statement. Panama requested a review of the terms of the Tariff Elimination Program under the United States—Panama Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) for those products, the government said.

Panama seeks to "promote new trade conditions for these sensitive items, without affecting Panamanian agricultural production and the generation of employment that these items represent for our economy," the country said in an official letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.