The United States extends duty-free treatment to certain imports from Ecuador under a regional trade preference program that began under the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA). ATPA was enacted on December 4, 1991 (Title II of P.L. 102-182 ), and was originally authorized for 10 years with Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru as designated beneficiary countries. It lapsed on December 4, 2001, and was renewed and modified on August 6, 2002, under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA; Title XXXI of P.L. 107-210 ). ATPDEA amended ATPA by expanding trade preferences to include additional products that were previously excluded under ATPA. These products include certain items in the following categories: petroleum and petroleum products, textiles and apparel products, footwear, tuna in flexible containers, and others. Since the enactment of ATPDEA, Congress has favored extending ATPA for short periods of time. The 113 th Congress may consider whether or not to renew ATPA, especially since Ecuador is now the only remaining designated beneficiary country. The most recent extension renewed trade preferences for Colombia and Ecuador until July 31, 2013, as part of the implementing legislation for the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The FTA, formally known as the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, was approved by the Congress on October 12, 2011, and signed into law on October 21 ( P.L. 112-42 ). Section 201 of the implementing legislation specifically directed the President to terminate Colombia's designation as an ATPA beneficiary country upon the agreement's entry into force, which took place on May 15, 2012. Peru is no longer a designated beneficiary country under ATPA because the United States and Peru also have a free trade agreement, which entered into force on February 1, 2009 ( P.L. 110-138 ). Bolivia's designation as a beneficiary country was terminated in November 2008 by President George W. Bush because of Bolivia's failure to meet the eligibility criteria due to its lack of cooperation on counter-narcotics efforts. In 2009, President Barack Obama continued the determination that Bolivia was not meeting the eligibility criteria. The President's option of reinstating Bolivia as an ATPA beneficiary country expired on June 30, 2009. Thus, Bolivia can only be reinstated as a beneficiary country under ATPA if Congress approves legislation to do so. ATPA, as amended by ATPDEA, is part of a broader U.S. initiative with Andean countries to address the drug trade problem with Latin America. The act (as a complement to crop eradication, interdiction, and other counter-narcotics efforts) was intended to promote economic growth in the Andean region and to encourage a shift away from dependence on illegal drugs by supporting legitimate economic activities. Increased access to the U.S. market was expected to help create jobs and expand legitimate opportunities for workers in the Andean countries in alternative export sectors. In 2012, the United States imported $42.3 billion (2% of total U.S. imports) from the four Andean countries that were originally designated as ATPA beneficiaries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru), as shown in Table 1 . Between 2008 and 2012, imports from these countries increased by 49%. Colombia is the leading source of U.S. imports from the region, accounting for 58% of imports in 2012. The next leading supplier of U.S. imports from these countries is Ecuador ($9.3 billion in imports in 2012), followed by Peru ($6.6 billion), and Bolivia ($1.7 billion). Leading import items from the region include crude petroleum oil (51%), gold (13%), non-crude petroleum oil products (6%), coffee (3%), and cut flowers (2%). Total U.S. exports to the original four ATPA countries totaled $29.2 billion in 2012, an increase of 47% since 2008. These countries account for a very small market share (2%) of total U.S. exports. In 2012, the countries collectively were the 10 th -largest market for total U.S. exports. Exports from the United States to the region totaled $29.2 billion in 2012, as shown in Table 2 . Colombia accounted for the largest share of U.S. exports to the region (49%), followed by Peru (28%), Ecuador (21%), and Bolivia (2%). Leading U.S. exports to these countries in 2012 were non-crude petroleum oil products (22%), aircraft (2%), machinery parts (2%), bulldozers and related products (2%), and polymers of ethylene (2%). Duty-free imports accounted for 87.4% of U.S. imports from the region in 2012 (see Table 3 ). With Ecuador as the only remaining beneficiary ATPA country, the value of total imports under ATPA has been declining steadily since 2008, when it reached a high of $17.2 billion, or 61% of total import value from the region. By 2012, this amount had declined to $11.4 billion, or 27% of total import value from the four countries. Of the remaining imports in 2012, 24% entered duty-free under the Colombia and Peru Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Another small share entered duty-free under GSP and the remainder entered under normal trade relations, which applies on a nondiscriminatory basis to almost all U.S. trading partners. Only 17% of the value of U.S. imports from the four countries was dutiable in 2012. The year 2008 marked the sixth full year that ATPA provisions were in effect after its renewal under ATPDEA and also the last year that trade preferences were in effect for all four countries originally designated as ATPA beneficiaries. Between 2001 and 2008, total U.S. ATPA imports increased from $1.7 billion (17% of total imports from ATPA countries) to $17.2 billion (61% of total imports from ATPA countries), an increase of more than 900%. Because Ecuador is the only remaining ATPA beneficiary country, ATPA imports went down to $11.4 billion in 2012, as shown in Table 3 . Colombia's status as a beneficiary country ended when the U.S.-Colombia FTA went into effect in May 2012 and imports from Colombia in the latter part of the year no longer qualified for ATPA treatment. ATPA imports from Colombia decreased from $9.5 billion in 2010 to $5.5 billion in 2012. ATPA imports from Bolivia went down to zero by 2010 after Bolivia was removed as an ATPA-designated country in December 2008. Peru was removed from the list because of the U.S.-Peru free trade agreement, which went into force on February 1, 2009, and U.S. ATPA imports from Peru declined from $3.2 billion in 2008 to nearly zero in 2012. The effects of ATPA on the U.S. economy have likely been minimal because the amount of U.S. trade with the region is low and the value of ATPA imports is very small as a percentage of total U.S. trade. The effect on the beneficiary countries was likely higher, especially in those industries that benefitted from ATPA trade preferences. At least one study suggests that ATPA may have had a small, indirect effect on coca production in the region. The overall impact of ATPA on the U.S. economy has likely been small because the amount of U.S. trade with the region has been low. The value of duty-free U.S. imports under ATPA accounts for less than 0.5% of total U.S. imports and a very small percentage of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). A 2012 U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) study on ATPA states that the overall effect of ATPA-eligible imports on the U.S. economy has been minimal and that this continued to be the case in 2010 and 2011. It also states that the probably future effects of ATPA on U.S. industries and consumers are likely to be minimal because Ecuador is the only remaining ATPA beneficiary. The rapid rise in the value of imports from ATPA countries after the modifications made under ATPDEA was primarily due to an increase in the value of imports of petroleum-related products. Imports of crude petroleum oils accounted for 76% of the value of the 20 leading items in 2007, 85% in 2008, 91% in 2009, 94% in 2010, and 94% in 2011, according to the USITC. Imports of cut flowers also increased as a result of ATPA. The USITC study estimated that U.S. imports under ATPA of fresh-cut roses and fresh-cut chrysanthemums provided the most significant impact on U.S. consumers through lower prices. Fresh cut roses provided the largest single gain in consumer surplus (between $8.9 million and $9.2 million), according to the study. The largest potential relative displacement effects on U.S. producers were on U.S. production of fresh cut roses. ATPA preferences may have resulted in a displacement of 0.3% to 2.0% of rose production in the United States, an estimated value of $59,000 to $362,000. A central purpose of the original ATPA legislation was to expand economic incentives to shift from illegal crop production to legitimate economic activities in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.