Caribbean And US Officials Discuss Trade Issues

WASHINGTON, D.C. CMC – Senior United States and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) officials have discussed the removal of barriers to bilateral trade under the recently inaugurated US-CARICOM Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).

US Vice President, Joe Biden, and Haitian President, Michel Martelly, signed the U.S.-CARICOM TIFA in May 2013.

The meeting which took place here over the last weekend also discussed enhanced cooperation in multilateral fora, an increased focus on intellectual property protection and the development of e-commerce infrastructure.

“The United States looks forward to strengthening our partnership with CARICOM and tackling important trade and investment issues under the framework of the new Council,” said Deputy United States Trade Representative Miriam Sapiro.

“We have a large and growing relationship with our Caribbean partners. Working together, we have great potential to support job growth and boost competitiveness across the region,” he added.

Figures released here showed that last year, two-way trade between the United States and CARICOM was greater than US$22 billion.

CARICCOM countries shipped US$11 billion in goods to the United States, and U.S. exports to the CARICOM were US$11.7 billion, up six percent from 2011.

The leading categories of U.S. exports to CARICOM last year were mineral fuel, machinery, and cereals, while CARICOM countries exported mineral fuel, chemicals, iron and steel to the United States in 2012.