CARICOM-US Trade

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:

outreach, advocacy, and awareness-raising events and activities
focused research on new and emerging issues and opportunities arising under the relationship
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.

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Dodging Dutch Disease: Targeting Services in Guyana

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Navigating Change: CARICOM’s Path to Sustainable and Resilient Trade in a Shifting Geopolitical Landscape

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Reshaping US-Caribbean Trade Relations: Trump 2.0 and Beyond

Related Policy Briefs

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An Overview of the Trading Arrangements Between the United States and Africa and the United States and the Caribbean Community

Policy Brief

Chibole Wakoli and Jan Yves Remy

The year 2022 was an important one for the United States’ engagement with the regions of Africa and the Caribbean: in June, the Biden Administration met with leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)1 separately and as part of the Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles; in December, the Biden Administration invited leaders of African States to a series of meetings in Washington D.C. to discuss, among other things, the renewal of the trading relations under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

It is against this background that this SRC Policy Brief seeks to initiate a discussion about the trading arrangements that define the United States’ engagement with Africa and with CARICOM, with a view to identifying what lessons might usefully be drawn across those different configurations of relationships.

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

Policy Brief

Andrea Ewart, Esq

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Related Papers

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CARICOM – U.S. Trade and Investment Relations | Dynamising CARICOM – U.S. Engagement in the New Economy

SRC Working Paper

Prepared by Ms. Natallie Rochester & Ms. Andrea Ewart for the SRC

This paper considers the prospect of enhanced bilateral cooperation on trade and investment with the aim of positioning the Caribbean to better take advantage of US market opportunities through renewable energy, digital trade, nearshoring and agribusiness.

While this paper applies the concept of the “new economy” to these four sectors, they are not in and of themselves “new”. Rather, the discussion and recommendations incorporate strategies that aim to capture the use of technology and qualities of innovation which are the consistent themes in the definitions, descriptions, and explanations of the “new economy.” For the purposes of this paper, the term ‘Caribbean’ is limited to the twelve (12) English-speaking independent member states of CARICOM, namely: Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Trinidad & Tobago.

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Setting the Agenda for Enhanced CARICOM-U.S. Trade and Investment Relations

SRC White Paper

Prepared by Ms. Andrea Ewart for the SRC

This SRC White Paper explores the existing CARICOM-U.S. framework for trade and investment, critiques its shortcomings, and outlines an agenda to enhance the CARICOM-U.S. trade and investment relationships highlighting short-, medium- and longer-term options to address the existing shortcomings and expand FDI inflows.

The White Paper also discusses overarching trends in bilateral trade and investment relations. Climate resilience and renewable energy, food production and agro-processing, the “blue economy”, “nearshoring” and “friend-shoring”, facilitation of digital trade, and transportation and logistics are six sectors identified as having the potential to reinvigorate Caribbean and U.S. private sector engagement.

The White Paper further argues that the goal for CARICOM should be to craft a trade and investment partnership framework in which key areas for mutually beneficial cooperation are identified. Drawing on similar U.S. initiatives in other parts of the world, the White Paper provides instructive examples that could be considered in the Caribbean context. It concludes with the recommendation that the Trade and Investment Council (TIC) established under the U.S.-CARICOM Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) be used to initiate discussions with the U.S. to reorient the relationship and offers a proposed agenda for the next TIC meeting to accomplish this goal.

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