With $9.4 billion in trade with the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom), the United States “places a great emphasis” on its bilateral relationship with the region.
This assurance was given by U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick, who met with Caribbean Trade Ministers in Trinidad and Tobago on September 11 to discuss the participation of the smaller island economies in the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiating process.
The Progressive Liberal Party, which came to power in May, promised The Bahamas that no binding commitment or agreement of any kind will be made in relation to either the World Trade Organisation (WTO) or the FTAA, without prior consultation.
At the Trinidad session, mainly to prepare some ground rules for upcoming FTAA negotiations, Mr. Zoellick also recognised the special needs of smaller island economies, the U.S. Department of State reported over the weekend.
He added that he appreciated the opportunity to discuss the challenges facing the Caricom nations in building their capacity to better participate in the global economy. Mr. Zoellick further stated that the Hemispheric Cooperation Programme, which will provide technical assistance to smaller and less developed economies, will “create the foundation for the Caricom countries and others to move forward in the FTAA.”
Mr. Zoellick indicated that the United States is “fully aware that the Caricom nations face some very special problems,” and as a result, those countries would receive differential treatment in FTAA and World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. Special considerations for certain sensitive products and longer time periods to phase out tariffs were among examples of possible differential treatment for Caricom nations outlined by the USTR.
The U.S. trade representative indicated that the working dialogue established between the United States and the Caricom nations during the meeting would continue at various levels, including a possible meeting in Washington.
Negotiations among the 34 democracies of the Western Hemisphere on the FTAA continue, with Vice-Ministerial discussions recently in Santo Domingo and the upcoming Ministerial meeting this November in Quito, Ecuador, after which the United States will join Brazil in co-chairing the final stage of FTAA negotiations. The negotiations are scheduled to conclude by the end of 2004. The United States and the Caribbean Community share $9.2 billion in total (two-way) trade in goods. U.S. goods exports to Caribbean Community members have increased nearly 60 percent since 1994. U.S. imports of Caribbean Community goods are $4 billion, an increase of 64 percent in the same time period.
U.S. technical assistance includes Caribbean regional projects of over $11 million, designed to stimulate business development, reform and modernise the telecommunications sector, provide fiscal and monetary training, and assist with the development of food safety, animal, and plant health regulation. Bilateral programmes in Guyana, Haiti, and Jamaica were over $776,000, $5.8 million, and $1. 9 million respectively.
The Caribbean Community member countries are: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Suriname, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago. The COTED is the arm of the Caribbean Community that promotes trade and the economic development of the Community and overseas operation of the Common Market.
