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The United States and Ecuador have concluded negotiations on a historic Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) that eliminates the 15% surcharge on roughly half of Ecuador's non-petroleum exports — worth $3.2 billion annually. The deal shields Ecuadorian flowers, bananas, cacao, and seafood from the new 10% global US tariff.
Ecuador's Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor) projects 6-7% export growth for 2026, a significant slowdown from the 18% surge in 2025. Headwinds include US tariff uncertainty, the Colombia trade dispute, and falling cacao prices — but the new US trade deal and flower sector expansion offer upside.
LATAM Cargo and Avianca transported over 40,000 tons of roses from Ecuador for Valentine’s Day 2026 — the country’s biggest annual flower export event. Ecuador is the world’s third-largest flower exporter, and February is the industry’s Super Bowl.
The Metropolitan Traffic Agency will blanket Quito with 711 officers, 36 control points on major highways, and monitoring at 63 high-traffic locations from February 13-17. Drunk driving operations, terminal coverage, and restrictions on ‘chivas’ party buses are all in effect.
