CARICOM and the United States have committed to working together to support durable and resilient supply chains in the region.
On October 13, CARICOM and the United States held the ninth meeting of the Trade and Investment Council (TIC) under the CARICOM-United States Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).
A release from CARICOM yesterday said that Dominica’s Ambassador to the regional body, Felix Gregoire chaired the meeting for CARICOM and Deputy United States Trade Representative Jayme White chaired the meeting for the United States.
During the meeting, the release said that the delegations from CARICOM and the United States highlighted that two-way trade and investment have recovered strongly since the COVID-19 pandemic. The delegations acknowledged that engagement under the TIFA is a key opportunity to expand their economic relationship even further, including by expanding and diversifying exports and growing investments.
The release said that the delegations underscored the importance of the CBI trade preference programmes to the CARICOM-U.S. economic relationship. Both sides agreed to jointly explore ways to heighten utilization of the CBI programmes – and thereby expand regional trade – by exchanging data, analysis, and methodologies related to utilization of the programmes. CARICOM communicated the continued interest of some of its member countries in being designated beneficiaries of CBI trade preferences.
The delegations discussed agricultural sustainability and food security. CARICOM and the United States also addressed agricultural biotechnology and specific trade concerns. During the meeting, the release said that 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 have an impact on CARICOM-U.S. agricultural trade.
Both sides also agreed on the importance of protecting workers’ rights and reaffirmed their commitment to internationally recognized core labour standards. The United States underlined its worker-centred trade policy and recent U.S. efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour and eradicate forced labour in global supply chains.
The United States and CARICOM discussed how transparency and good regulatory practices can facilitate trade and investment and ongoing activities related to the Declaration on Good Regulatory Practices announced in 2022.
The release said that CARICOM and the United States further acknowledged that trade in services represent a large and growing share of their economies and agreed to advance their collaboration by establishing a joint work programme on services.
Also discussed was intellectual property protection and enforcement in CARICOM member states, including related to signal piracy and the WIPO Internet Treaties, and the two sides agreed to continue to work together to address these issues.
The delegations highlighted the importance of trade facilitation to supporting food security and highlighted that the full implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) is crucial for expediting trade and reducing costs. CARICOM welcomed the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development in providing training and technical assistance for customs-related reforms.
The delegations agreed to more regular engagements, including intersessional engagements and to discuss an agenda on how to continue to advance technical cooperation.
