In September 2021, The SRC and the U.S. Embassy (Barbados) agreed to work together on projects to promote institutional collaboration with the aim of revitalizing the U.S. – Caribbean trade and investment agenda.  Through funding provided by the Embassy, the Project was designed with three main aims in mind:

(i) outreach, advocacy, and awareness-raising events and activities

(ii) focused research on new and emerging issues and opportunities arising under the relationship

(iii) creating and sustaining academic and student-based partnerships between U.S. and Caribbean institutions 

Through this initiative, it was anticipated that stakeholders across government, academic, student, private sector and general communities would gain a deeper understanding, share ideas and ultimately increase the possibilities for meaningful trade and investment relationships between the United States and the Caribbean.

On this page, we highlight some of the fruits of that continuing collaboration.  We will continue updating the page, as we continue to develop output and concrete suggestions on that will result in the creation of a mutually beneficial relationship between the US and CARICOM.

Policy Brief 

Andrea Ewart, Esq 

US-CARICOM Trade and Investment Relations: Increasing the Participation of the Private Sector in Caribbean-US Engagements

The 9th Summit of the Americas as a Reset for CARICOM-US Economic Relations

By Dr. Jan Yves Remy

Whatever one might think of the politics of the Ninth Summit of the Americas due to take place 6-10 June in Los Angeles, one thing is incontrovertible:  for CARICOM leaders, the hemispheric meeting is an opportunity to upgrade economic and trade relations with the United States, at the highest levels.  We must not squander it.

CARICOM’s formal trading relationship with the US is outdated, fragmented and rudderless. Unlike the case with many other countries in the Western hemisphere – even the smallest ones like Central America and the Dominican Republic – CARICOM still has no bespoke reciprocal free trade agreement with the United States.   Some islands, like Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and Jamaica have formalized bilateral deals in place, but they are outdated, as are the existing preferential access agreements that originate from the 1980s.  A framework agreement for trade and investment negotiated in 2013 is barebones and underutilized. While CARICOM and the United States are both Members of the World Trade Organization, they do not enjoy a particularly close relationship in that forum.