WASHINGTON – On Friday, October 18, 2024, United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Trade and Industry and Chair of the Council for Trade and Economic Development of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Paula Gopee-Scoon co-chaired a meeting with representatives from the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hugh Todd, Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith, and CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General Ambassador Wayne McCook also joined the meeting.
Building on their previous conversations during the World Trade Organization’s 13th Ministerial Conference and ministerial meeting in August in Georgetown, Guyana, the Ministers discussed how the United States and CARICOM can partner together to advance inclusive trade and investment policies, including through the Caribbean Basin Initiative and the United States-CARICOM Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. Ministers further explored opportunities for the United States and CARICOM to work together to generate long-term, equitable, broad-based, economic prosperity, enhanced participation, and supply chain resilience for all of our communities, including women, youth, and Diaspora-owned, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.
The Ministers agreed that technical teams should immediately intensify cooperation on these matters and other shared priorities to further strengthen the U.S.-Caribbean trade and economic relationship.
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