CARICOM, US Look to Enhance Trade

• 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 even further.
• According to a joint communique issued by the parties, the two sides reaffirmed the importance of the bilateral trade and economic relationship and highlighted that two-way trade and investment have 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 also 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.
• Furthermore, the statement said the meeting also underscored the importance of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), the trade preference initiative intended to facilitate the development of stable Caribbean Basin economies by providing beneficiary countries with duty-free access to the U.S. market for most goods.
• Both sides agreed to jointly explore ways to increase utilization of the CBI programmes “and thereby expand regional trade, by exchanging data, analysis, and methodologies related to utilization of the programmes”.

(Source: Trinidad and Tobago Guardian)