Negotiations between Montenegro and the United States (USA) on a possible bilateral agreement are underway, the State Department told Radio Free Europe (RFE).
"As announced in December, we are discussing with our Montenegrin counterparts a potential bilateral agreement that would strengthen investment, trade, and security cooperation between the United States and Montenegro," the State Department told RFE/RL.
At the end of last year, the US Embassy in Podgorica announced that the US and Montenegro were beginning negotiations to reach a bilateral agreement and that the negotiations would be conducted within the framework of the US-Montenegrin Economic Dialogue 2025.
"The United States is globally recognized for its economic inventiveness, innovation, and reliability, and American companies are showing increasing interest in business opportunities in the growing Montenegrin economy," the embassy said at the time.
It is also stated that the goal of these negotiations is to encourage greater investment by the American private sector in order to create new jobs in the United States and Montenegro, strengthen Montenegro's role as a NATO ally, and open new opportunities for the prosperity of the United States, Montenegro, and the wider region.
In the last year, Montenegro has signed four interstate agreements – with France, Hungary and two with the United Arab Emirates.
On February 13, the US reached a framework agreement on fair and reciprocal trade with North Macedonia, opening new opportunities for exporters and deepening bilateral economic cooperation.
Under the agreement, Skopje will eliminate customs duties on all industrial and agricultural products from the US, while the US will maintain 15 percent tariffs on some Macedonian products, with the possibility of certain products receiving a zero percent rate.
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