Saudi Arabia agrees with the US on joining the WTO
{{date|September 10, 2005}}
[[Image:WTO2005.png|thumb|250px|The current members of the WTO]]
[[Saudi Arabia]] signed on Friday a trade agreement with the [[United States]], which was considered to be one the last major hurdles to the [[w:World Trade Organisation|World Trade Organisation]] membership of the kingdom. Now, Saudis have to complete negotiations at the Geneva-based WTO on the formal accession document.

The deal opens Saudi markets to US farm and manufactured goods, as well as most services, including IT, financial, energy and tourism sectors. It also forced Saudis not to boycott US companies which are doing business with [[w:Israel|Israel]].

The kingdom also promised to have normal trade relations with all 148 WTO members, which include Israel.

The other problem remains a Saudi-EU row over gas prices. The EU officials accused Saudi Arabia of selling the natural gas to their home [[w:petrochemicals|petrochemicals]] at rates below international market prices, which could cause losses to the European producers.

== Sources ==
*{{source|url=http://za.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-09-10T140559Z_01_BAN050757_RTRIDST_0_OZABS-TRADE-SAUDI-WTO-20050910.XML
|title=EU wants Saudi gas price talks before WTO accession
|author=
|pub=Reuters
|date=September 10, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/870D3E4F-B5EB-4456-B65B-2CADF92CA870.htm
|title=US deal advances Saudi WTO bid
|author=
|pub=Al-Jazeera
|date=September 10, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050910/BUSINESS/509100402/1003
|title=Saudi Arabia completes talks with U.S. on WTO membership
|author=
|pub=Indianapolis Star
|date=September 10, 2005}}

{{Publish}}
{{PD-Article}}
{{archive}}

[[Category:Saudi Arabia]]
[[Category:Middle East]]
[[Category:Economy and business]]
[[Category:World Trade Organization]]
[[Category:Tourism]]
The current members of the WTO
Saudi Arabia signed on Friday a trade agreement with the United States, which was considered to be one the last major hurdles to the World Trade Organisation membership of the kingdom. Now, Saudis have to complete negotiations at the Geneva-based WTO on the formal accession document.

The deal opens Saudi markets to US farm and manufactured goods, as well as most services, including IT, financial, energy and tourism sectors. It also forced Saudis not to boycott US companies which are doing business with Israel.

The kingdom also promised to have normal trade relations with all 148 WTO members, which include Israel.

The other problem remains a Saudi-EU row over gas prices. The EU officials accused Saudi Arabia of selling the natural gas to their home petrochemicals at rates below international market prices, which could cause losses to the European producers.
Saudi Arabia Middle East Economy and business World Trade Organization Tourism