In June, Morocco entered into fresh free trade agreement talks to add Canada to its growing number of close commercial partners. The list of Morocco’s free trade allies already includes the European Union, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Jordan, alongside North African neighbors Tunisia and Egypt. Rabat hopes to diversify its markets and capabilities, which are currently focused on a small number of European partners, by dismantling tariffs with new partners like Canada. Meanwhile, Morocco’s new port facilities and burgeoning IT development are opening never-before-seen trade routes and commercial opportunities, allowing the country to reconsider its economic and political global alliances. European countries have been Morocco’s principal trading partners since independence, with France, at 21 percent, and Spain, at 20 percent, the two countries with the largest volume of bilateral trade. In 2007, more than 60 percent of Moroccan exports were sent to the EU, while
