Earlier this week, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a press release announcing that a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) was signed between the U.S. and the 15 member countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as a platform to discuss ways to improve trade and investment between both regions.
In the release, USTR notes that the TIFA will replace the a U.S.- CARICOM Council on Trade and Investment, which was created in 1991. Some of the issues to be addressed by the new Agreement include:
- Facilitation of trade and investment
- Multilateral cooperation
- Intellectual property rights
- Worker rights
- Environmental protection
- Removing barriers to bilateral trade
The CARICOM is made up of 15 member countries - Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Agreement was signed by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Haiti's President Michel Martelly.
The full text of the press release is available online here.
