For more information on how these developments may affect your business, please contact Nicole Bivens Collinson at (202) 730-4956 or via email.
Americas
The U.S. appears to be making an effort to finally start work on the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity, which was announced in 2022 but has largely taken a back seat since then to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. APEP partners currently include Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and the U.S., and Argentina has expressed interest in joining as well.
To developed “trade-related lines of effort in the trade track” of APEP, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is inviting comments through July 22 on the following topics as they relate to trade and investment.
- customs and trade facilitation
- value and supply chain resilience and sustainability, with particular focus on clean energy, medical supplies, and semiconductors
- issues of particular relevance to small and medium-sized enterprises
- labor standards and worker rights
- environment, climate, and conservation
- transparency and good regulatory practices
- anti-corruption
- trade capacity building needs and priorities
- inclusive trade, including for women, indigenous peoples, and other underrepresented groups
India
The White House reports that at the second meeting of the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, held June 17 in New Delhi, senior officials “set the vision for the next chapter of our strategic technology partnership.” Ongoing efforts, many implicitly designed to counter challenges posed by China, will include the following.
- preventing the leakage of sensitive and dual-use technologies to countries of concern
- addressing longstanding barriers to bilateral strategic trade, technology, and industrial cooperation, including in the commercial and civil space sector
- working with Korea, Japan, and the European Union to enhance resilience for supply chains for active pharmaceutical ingredients and reduce dependencies on single-source suppliers
- continuing to build a robust semiconductor and information communication technology ecosystem in India
- pursuing numerous projects to diversify supply chains and expand collaboration with respect to critical minerals
- lowering barriers to U.S. exports to India of high-performance computing and source code
Central Asia
USTR reports that during the 15th meeting of the U.S.-Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council, senior officials from the U.S., Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan discussed the challenges of developing new trade routes to improve supply chain resilience and economic diversification. Participants have increased their attention to this topic amid heightened concerns regarding Russia, China, and the Middle East.
While the U.S. wants trade with the region to “reach its full potential,” it continues to emphasize that doing so requires the Central Asian countries to pursue policy reforms that will facilitate trade and create a predictable business environment. These include improved regulatory transparency, consistent stakeholder consultation during the development of regulations, implementing high-standard measures to promote trade in quality goods and services, and increasing alignment between domestic labor laws and international labor standards.
To further pursue this goal participants agreed to accelerate efforts within the TIFA working groups on issues like harmonizing customs and border procedures; adopting science-based food safety and plant and animal health measures and processes; developing open, inclusive, and secure digital infrastructure and government interfaces; strengthening intellectual property protection and enforcement; and facilitating a public-private dialogue to spur women’s economic inclusion.
Separately, USTR Katherine Tai met with Kazakh leaders June 14 to discuss ways to expand and diversify the bilateral trade relationship, including (1) streamlining the issuance of digital export certificates for agricultural goods, (2) facilitating increased shipments of U.S. agricultural equipment to Kazakhstan, (3) permanent normal trade relations status for Kazakh goods, and (4) developing alternative trade routes.
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