CARIBBEAN-CARICOM US agree on efforts to enhance trade capabilities further

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and United States trade officials have agreed to further strengthen their cooperation through the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) as they seek to grow their economic relationship further.

According to a joint communique issued here on Monday following last weekend’s ninth meeting of the CARICOM-United States Trade and Investment Council (TIC), the two sides “reaffirmed the importance of the bilateral trade and economic relationship and highlighted that two-way trade and investment had recovered strongly since the pandemic.

“The delegations agreed that engagement under the TIFA is an important opportunity to grow their economic relationship even further, including by expanding and diversifying exports and growing investments,” according to the statement.

It said that during the meeting, the delegations highlighted the commitment of CARICOM and the United States to working together to support durable and resilient supply chains in their shared region.

The statement said the meeting also underscored the importance of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), the U.S. trade preference programs for the region, with both sides agreeing to jointly explore ways to increase utilization of the CBI programs “and thereby expand regional trade, by exchanging data, analysis, and methodologies related to the utilization of the programs.”

“CARICOM conveyed the continued interest of certain CARICOM member countries in being designated beneficiaries of CBI trade preferences,” the statement said, without naming those countries.

Washington established the CBI 40 years ago by enacting the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act. During the opening ceremony, Dominica’s Ambassador to CARICOM, Felix Gregoire, who co-chaired the meeting with Ambassador Jayme White, the Deputy US Trade Representative, had said the region welcomed “this timely high-level re-engagement with the United States, in the context of our trade and investment framework agreement.

“It is an opportunity for us to share with the United States our assessment of initiatives to promote the sustainable economic development of our member states through trade,” he said.

The joint communique also noted that the meeting discussed agricultural sustainability and food security, where CARICOM and the United States share common interests and objectives.

“CARICOM and the United States also discussed agricultural biotechnology and specific trade concerns. During the meeting, CARICOM raised the matter of trade in rum with the United States. Each side agreed to keep the other informed about third-party agreements that may impact CARICOM-U.S. agricultural trade. ,” according to the joint communique.

It said both sides agreed on protecting workers’ rights and reaffirmed their commitment to internationally recognized core labor standards.

“The United States highlighted its worker-centered trade policy and recent U.S. efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor and eradicate forced labor in global supply chains.

“The United States and CARICOM discussed how transparency and good regulatory practices (GRP) can facilitate trade and investment and ongoing activities related to the Declaration on Good Regulatory Practices announced in 2022.”

The communique noted that CARICOM and the United States acknowledged that “trade in services represented a large and growing share of their economies and agreed to advance their collaboration on trade in services by establishing a joint work program on services.

“Both sides will organize a first scoping meeting to clarify and confirm areas for collaboration,” it said, adding that “CARICOM and the United States discussed intellectual property protection and enforcement in CARICOM member states, including related to signal piracy and the WIPO Internet Treaties, and agreed to continue to work together to address these issues.

“The delegations highlighted the importance of trade facilitation to supporting food security and underscored that the full implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) is critical for expediting trade and reducing costs. CARICOM welcomed the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development to provide training and technical assistance for customs-related reforms.”

According to the communique, CARICOM and the United States have committed themselves “to consider sharing information and best practices on export promotion and facilitation of business-to-business engagement among CARICOM and U.S. firms.

“The delegations agreed to reinvigorate the TIC and more regular engagements, including intersessional engagements. Both sides agreed to discuss an agenda on advancing technical cooperation,” the communique added.