The US and UAE are set to hold talks in March on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) despite objections raised by Saudi Arabia, which says such deals hinder economic integration among GCC member states.

Expressing resentment over a similar deal that Bahrain signed with the US last year, Crown Prince Abdullah boycotted the summit of Gulf Arab heads of state in Manama in December.
UAE Finance and Industrial Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammed Khalfan bin Kharbash said teams would be set up to formulate a comprehensive UAE negotiating strategy under which all relevant sectors in the negotiations would be dealt with separately and thoroughly.
The sectors include intellectual property, customs, standards and metrology, services, agriculture, labour, environment, textiles, government procurement, telecommunications and e-commerce and investment and financial services.
The teams will organise workshops and conduct debates with relevant public and private parties in order to finalise their position and requirements from the free trade agreement, Dr Kharbash said. The minister, together with Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of Economy and Planning, co-chairs the joint free trade negotiations council, which aims to unify the UAE’s requirements for the first round of FTA negotiations with the US in Abu Dhabi.
The council comprises a number of federal and local ministries and other parties. It has been created to serve as a forum for permanent dialogue between the UAE and US officials to expand bilateral trade and investment.
The cabinet ratified in April 2004 a UAE-US trade and investment framework agreement (Tifa) after it was signed in Washington in March 2004.  Tifa aims to foster an open and predictable environment for international trade and investment and economic cooperation between the two countries.
“We’re very pleased that we will early next month have a first round of talks on the possibility of a US free trade agreement with the UAE,” US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Anthony Wayne said in Dubai in February.
Press reports said Wayne made the comments after meeting UAE officials, including Defence Minister and Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum, along with US Homeland Security advisor Frances Townsend.
“We’re looking to deepen our economic relations with all countries in the region, as they are ready to do that,” he said in remarks published in a media report. According to the reports, Wayne said the agreement “is a very good opportunity for both countries to deepen and expand something that is already a very strong relationship.”