United States of America
United States of America
Historically, the US has justified its development assistance policies in terms of both recipient country needs and its own foreign policy objectives. Development cooperation is one of the three pillars of the US National Security Strategy, along with diplomacy and defense (the 3Ds). More than twenty US government institutions are involved in providing official bilateral and/or multilateral development assistance. Major assistance organizations include the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Departments of State, Defense, Treasury and Agriculture. These institutions together manage the vast majority of ODA. Many types of foreign policy objectives are implemented, including diplomatic, military, economic and a wide range of others. As part of the foreign assistance policy in the area of trade, the U.S complements its aid for trade (AfT), or trade capacity building (TCB), assistance with preference programmes. These programmes include: the Generalized System of Preferences programme, which includes more than 130 beneficiary developing countries, and an additional component solely for least-developed beneficiary countries; the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which benefits sub-Saharan African countries; the Caribbean Basin Initiative, benefitting countries in the Caribbean, including HOPE, a component for Haiti; and the Andean Trade Preferences Act. Each of these programmes offers duty-free entry to a set of products defined in that programme to its beneficiary countries.
“U.S. aid for trade is about giving countries, particularly the least trade-active, the training and technical assistance needed to: make decisions about the benefits of trade arrangements and reforms; implement their obligations to bring certainty to their trade regimes; and enhance such countries’ ability to compete in a global economy.”
Source: Office of the United States Trade Representative
The U.S. Af T strategy is integrated within its USAID Policy Framework, which outlines the Agency’s main development priorities. Within this framework, economic growth is one of seven Core Development Objectives, and support for AfT is one of the economic growth priority objectives. The USAID Policy Framework is designed to closely follow the directives laid out in the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), designed to review the mandates and capabilities of the State Department and USAID. The Economic Growth Strategy reiterates that international trade is a key driver for economic growth in developing countries; its key objectives are to:
- Develop well-functioning markets;
- Enhance access to productive activities;
- Strengthen the international framework of policies, institutions and public goods, including trade.
The US trade capacity-building programmes complement and cut across many other categories of assistance and help countries to participate in the global trading system. Training and technical assistance programmes assist countries to analyze and participate in international trade negotiations, implement commitments made in trade agreements, facilitate the efficient import and export of goods and services, and build the supply-side capacity needed to participate in the global trading system. Trade enhances the competitive forces that drive productivity change and growth.
The U.S. government has provided more than US$14.4 billion in AfT to developing country trading partners since 2000, primarily through USAID and the MCC. The USAID field and regional missions afford a local presence that allows its officials to engage with capital-based officials and other key stakeholders on a country’s development and AfT priorities. Since 1999, the United States has independently tracked its trade capacity-building activities. Domestically, AfT programmes are referred to as trade capacity-building programmes, including trade-related infrastructure projects.
The United States uses a mix of funding and planning vehicles for foreign assistance, as directed by the U.S. Congress, with planning and spending intended to be responsive to countries’ needs. Its AfT is delivered by numerous agencies using a wide variety of mechanisms, the main agencies being USAID and the MCC, and is reflected in the US Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) programmes when partner countries place a priority on AfT – MCC’s AfT activities are imbedded within the various activities that make up an MCA programme.
U.S. AfT focuses on country-based bilateral and regional programmes and aims to work through a combination of bilateral and regional assistance, thereby ensuring that programmes are flexible and can respond in a timely way to local needs and opportunities. While the MCC primarily focuses on country-level programmes, other agencies, including USAID, provide both bilateral and regional support. At the regional level, the United States has taken region-specific steps to increase the effectiveness of its trade capacity-building assistance. Countries eligible for MCC compact assistance are responsible for developing their own programmes and for procuring goods and services to implement them. This has opened numerous opportunities for South-South cooperation, both official and private sector, funded by MCC. The U.S. Government has also created Hubs for Global Competitiveness to support trade capacity building in sub-Saharan Africa. USAID supports four hubs in Gaborone, Botswana; Accra, Ghana; Nairobi, Kenya; and Dakar, Senegal. In additional to assistance provided by these hubs, assistance comes from USAID headquarters, through USAID bilateral missions and through other U.S. government agencies. At the multilateral level, the U.S. contributions to international financial institutions are not earmarked for AfT.
AfT projects are an integral part of MCC programmes. MCC partner countries determine their priorities and are responsible for developing their own programmes. In addition to the above, the United States Trade Representative (USTR)’s Trade and Development office develops policy and coordinates efforts to improve the effectiveness of trade-related development assistance worldwide and to increase funding to trade-related economic growth programmes. USTR also administers a number of preference programmes, including the Generalized System of Preferences, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the Andean Trade Preference Act and the Caribbean Basin Initiative.
Interagency (inter-governmental) coordination in Af T is part of the overall established U.S. Government coordination mechanism for trade policy. USTR and USAID lead the AfT effort. The information provided in this report was generated by annual surveys of United States Government agencies, beginning in 2001, of their trade capacity building activities and funding levels. A technical team conducted the survey and data processing, working collaboratively with the Office of Economic Growth at the United States Agency for International Development. More than two dozen U.S. Government agencies and departments, as well as several dozen USAID field missions, participated in one or all of the data collection exercises. The technical team reviewed completed survey forms, checking for accuracy and consistency in the reporting of funding and allocation into TCB categories. Whenever a report was ambiguous or incomplete, the technical team worked with the reporting U.S. Government agency, department, or field mission to amend the data.
The categories and definitions used to measure “Trade Capacity Building” were designed by USAID in consultation with the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative and other U.S. Government agencies, and by drawing upon the growing body of research literature covering TCB by the international donor community. Integration into the global economy is a complex and multi-faceted task for many developing countries and transition economies. Building the capacity to engage successfully in trade, as well as to negotiate effectively in international fora, involves a broad range of sectors such as financial, legal, environmental, and labor. In light of this reality, the definitions of trade capacity building categories in this database represent an effort to most accurately gauge the contribution of U.S. foreign assistance to building the trade capacity of developing countries and transition economies.
In order to preserve the integrity of the data, survey respondents were instructed to apply a rigorous standard for trade capacity building support, using the definitions of the TCB categories. Activities were limited to those that related directly to increasing the ability of developing and transition countries to participate in global trade agreements, to engage more actively in trade itself, or to assure the benefits of trade are wide-spread among economic groups. For example, basic agricultural research, basic education and health programs, while certainly contributing to building national productive capacity, were not included because they lacked any direct link to trade. However, research on methods to control pests that were consistent with phyto-sanitary requirements on export crops was considered to have an impact on a country’s ability to expand its participation in trade.
Finally, an interagency team has been formed to develop a common strategy for monitoring and evaluating trade-related programmes. Because AfT is a collection of programme activities of different types, the challenge in monitoring progress is to find an efficient and effective way to look across these different activities. USAID implemented a Cross-Country Evaluation of Trade Capacity Building to inform USAID and the Office of the US Trade Representative in their efforts to develop an interagency model to systematically measure and evaluate the effectiveness TCB assistance. The results of the evaluation were published in November 2010 and are available at: inside.usaid.gov/ppldocs/E3_Aid_to_Trade.pdf - 2012-12-06
Some of the findings of the evaluation include the following:
- Export gains associated with USAID TCB projects stem from modest investments directed at trade facilitation and improvements in government practices, as well as form larger investments in projects that work directly with exporters. There are synergies among these three pathways to improved trade performance.
- USAID TCB projects have discernible employment and income impacts on individuals and families.
- Projects that combined assistance modalities (technical assistance, training, equipment0 and those that combined efforts to expand exporting with policy improvements were synergistic in ways that raised project success scores , but this was not true for projects that focused on exports from multiple sectors.
- USAID’s 2003 TCB Strategy Paper was highly influential in shaping the USAID TCB portfolio. Results were achieved on each of the strategy’s priorities.
- TCB performance management practices would benefit from fuller implementation of USAID guidance on developing Results Frameworks, setting performance targets, and collecting baseline data.
Agencies
Principal official agency responsible for TCB assistance to developing countries
Tel.: +1-202-521-3600
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC): The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a U.S. government agency committed to promoting good governance, economic freedom and investments in its partner countries. It provides countries which meet its eligibility criteria with large-scale grants to fund country-led solutions for reducing poverty through sustainable economic growth. MCC grants complement other U.S. and international development programmes. There are two primary types of MCC grants: (i) compacts, which are large, five-year grants for countries that pass MCC’s eligibility criteria; and (ii) threshold programmes, which are smaller grants awarded to countries that come close to passing these MCC criteria and are firmly committed to improving their policy performance. MCC is managed by a chief executive officer, who is part of the nine-member Board of Directors. The Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the USAID Administrator serve on the board along with four private sector representatives.
E-mail: pinquiries [at] usaid.gov
United States Agency for International Development (USAID): USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. It supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by supporting: (i) economic growth, education and environment; (ii) agriculture; (iii) global health; and (iv) democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance. USAID provides assistance in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Near East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Eurasia. It works in 100 developing countries and in close partnership with private voluntary organizations, indigenous groups, universities, US businesses, international organizations, other governments, trade and professional associations, faith-based organizations, and other U.S. government agencies. It provides assistance in a wide range of areas, including AfT. In 2011, USAID funding for trade capacity building totaled more than US$678 million. Its top six funding categories within trade capacity building were: (i) US$188 million for trade facilitation (customs operations); (ii) US$179 million for trade-related agriculture; (iii) US$102 million for physical infrastructure development; (iv) US$68 million fell under other trade capacity building, which includes (did not specify) (v) US$44 million for competition pol- icy, business environment and governance ; and (vi) US$21 million for trade related labor.
Other government and official agencies with responsibilities directly relevant to TCB
Tel: +1 202 482 2400
Fax: +1 202 482 0006
Commercial Law Development Programme (CLDP): This agency’s mission is to improve the legal environment for doing business in developing and transitional countries around the globe and thereby foster greater political stability and economic opportunity for local entrepreneurs and U.S. companies alike. CLDP provides commercial law technical assistance to the governments and private sectors of developing and transitional countries in support of their economic development goals. The programmes are demand-driven and customized to address priority issues for host governments and firms interested in doing business in those countries. CLDP’s unique government-to-government approach helps improve legal and regulatory environments and develops sustainable professional relationships with US partners. CLDP draws expertise from throughout the US Government, as well as from leading professionals from the private sector and international organizations, to implement its programmes. Through workshops, on-the-job skills training and consultative tours in the US and abroad, CLDP helps lawmakers, regulators, judges, lawyers, and educators from host countries achieve their commercial law reform goals.
Tel.: +1-202-647-4000
Department of State is the United States’ lead foreign affairs agency and the Secretary of State is the President’s principal foreign policy adviser. It implements many types of foreign policy objectives, including diplomatic, military and economic. It is responsible for implementing about a sixth of ODA. Traditionally, the Department of State’s lead role in development relates to its management of funds for the United Nations system and other qualifying international organizations and its roles in dealing with migration and refugees, and with narcotic-related development actions. It has limited development and overseas activity management expertise and relies on USAID to implement the development aspects of its politically negotiated assistance programmes.
Tel.: +1-202 622-2000
Fax: +1-202 622-641
Department of the Treasury (USDT): The Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance (OTA), provides comprehensive financial advice around the world. Its expert advisors work directly with foreign governments to support their efforts to improve their financial systems. A number of these countries are involved in the transition from state-controlled to market-based economies, some are developing nations that are attempting to develop the capacity to better meet the needs of their populations, and others are emerging from periods of internal or external conflict. The Office also engages in financial reconstruction and stabilization efforts for countries emerging from conflict or those that are considered to be failed states. The Treasury Department fulfills its responsibilities in technical assistance primarily through the placement of resident and intermittent advisors. Long-term, resident advisors provide advice and training to ministers of finance, central bank governors and other government officials. Short-term, intermittent advisors provide highly specialized assistance, as necessary.
Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS): The FAS is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It has the primary responsibility for USDA’s international activities – market development, trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection and analysis of statistics and market information. It provides food aid and technical assistance to developing countries. It also administers USDA’s export credit guarantees and works to improve foreign market access for U.S. products, build new markets, and improve the competitive position of U.S. agriculture in the global marketplace. It helps to increase income and food availability in developing nations by mobilizing expertise for agriculturally led economic growth. FAS carry out a broad array of international training, technical assistance, and other collaborative activities with developing and transitional countries to facilitate trade and promote food security. In order to increase the benefits to developing nations participating in global agricultural markets, it has agricultural counselors, attachés, trade officers and locally employed FAS staff stationed in over 90 countries. In addition to agricultural affairs offices in U.S. embassies, agricultural trade offices have also been established in a number of key markets and function as service centers for U.S. exporters and foreign buyers seeking market information.
Tel.: +1- 202-514-2000
OPDAT Department of Justice: The mission of the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) is to develop and administer technical assistance designed to enhance the capabilities of foreign justice sector institutions and their law enforcement personnel, so that they can effectively partner with the Department of Justice in combating terrorism, trafficking in persons, organized crime, corruption, and financial crimes. OPDAT carries out justice sector institution building, including technical assistance and skills development support, to enhance foreign justice sector cooperation.
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC): OPIC is an agency of the U.S. government, founded in 1971, which assists U.S. businesses to invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy. Currently, OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. OPIC’s financing and political risk insurance also help U.S. businesses compete in emerging markets and meet the challenges of investing overseas when private sector support is not available. OPIC promotes U.S. best practices by requiring projects to adhere to international standards on the environment and on worker and human rights. For more information:
Find contacts for FAS overseas offices.
http://www.fas.usda.gov/aboutfas.asp and http://www.fas.usda.gov/
The Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS), also an agency of the USDA, provides assistance on SPS and related issues.
Tel.: +1 202-673-3916
Washington, DC 20005,
U.S.A.
United States African Development Foundation (USADF): USADF provides grants of up to US$250,000 to community organizations and enterprises that benefit under-served and marginalized communities in Africa. In 2009, USADF funded over US$20 million for 150 project grants in 20 countries. An additional US$4 million was used to fund African-directed partner organizations that provide design and implementation support for USADF grantees.
Phone: (703) 875-4357
Fax: (703) 875-4009
Suite 1600 Arlington, VA 22209
United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA): USTDA is directly funded by the U.S. Congress. Its mission is to promote economic growth in developing and middle income countries, while simultaneously helping American businesses to export their products and services, thereby creating U.S. jobs. In addition, USTDA supports U.S. policy objectives related to development and capacity-building activities in developing and middle income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, early investment analysis, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment. The hallmark of USTDA development assistance is building partnerships between
U.S. companies and overseas project sponsors to bring proven private sector solutions to developmental challenges. Its strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development. Operating at the nexus of foreign policy and commerce, USTDA is uniquely positioned to work with U.S. firms and host countries in achieving the Agency’s trade and development goals. In carrying out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.
Other offical and NON-governmental organizations involved
Tel.: +1-206 709-3100
Email: info [at] gatesfoundation.org
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, the Foundation focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. The Foundation also intervenes in the areas of agricultural development to help small farmers boost their productivity and increase their incomes, and provides financial services for the poor in the form of microfinance.
Tel.: +1-202 483 7600
Fax: +1-202 483 1840
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: This is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Founded in 1910, its work is non-partisan and dedicated to achieving practical results. Carnegie expert’s produce commentary and analysis that addresses the most important foreign policy issues of the day and the regions they affect. They study international trade flows, free trade agreements and labor and environmental standards, and develop strategies to make global economic integration work for more countries.
Tel.: +1-202 416-4000
Fax: +1-202 416-4050
Center for Global Development (CGD): This is an independent, non-profit policy research organization that is dedicated to reducing global poverty and inequality and to making globalization work for the poor. Through a combination of research and strategic outreach, the Center actively engages policymakers and the public to influence the policies of the United States, other rich countries, and such institutions as the World Bank, the IMF, and the WTO to improve the economic and social development prospects in poor countries. CGD was recently ranked among the world’s top think tanks (15th out of several thousand such research organizations) in an independent survey-based ranking published in Foreign Policy magazine.
Tel: +1 617-495-4112
Fax: +1 617-496-8753
Email: cid_events [at] harvard.edu
79 JFK Street Box 34 Cambridge, MA 02138 U.S.A.
Center for International Development (CID): The CID is a research group based at Harvard University. It works to generate shared and sustainable prosperity in developing economies. The CID actively creates, applies and integrates knowledge from across Harvard University to advance understanding of development challenges and solutions. Its mission is to improve development practice and resolve the dilemmas of public policy associated with eradicating global poverty. The CID’s primary activities and programmes seek to (i) change the way that growth strategies are conceived, designed, and implemented; (ii) reinvent production-related policies to facilitate countries’ move to higher productivity activities; (iii) extend markets to the underserved and empower the disenfranchised; (iv) improve service delivery in education, health, and other social services; (v) design institutions, policies and practices that promote sustainable development that meets human needs while conserving the earth’s life support systems. CID serves as Harvard’s primary center for research on international development.
Tel.: +1 212 573 5000
Fax: +1 212 351 3677
Ford Foundation: The Ford Foundation supports visionary leaders and organizations working on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Its goals are to: (i) strengthen democratic values; (ii) reduce poverty and injustice; (iii) promote international cooperation; and (iv) advance human achievement. The Ford Foundation works with visionary leaders and organizations around the world.
Tel. +1-617-627-3530
fax.+1- 617-627-2409
email: gdae [at] tufts.edu
Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE): GDAE was founded in 1993 to combine the research and curricular development activities of two Tufts programmes at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The Institute has produced more than a dozen books and numerous articles, policy documents, and discussion papers. These materials are being used in academic settings to enhance the teaching of economics and related subjects, and in policy circles, where GDAE researchers are recognized leaders in their fields. One of the areas of policy research is Globalisation and Sustainable Development, under which a number of research activities in the area of trade and the WTO and other free trade agreements are undertaken.
Tel.: +1-202-395-2839
Fax:+1-202-395-2961
Washington, DC 20508 USA
International Trade Administration (ITA): ITA is part of the Department of Commerce and has as its mission to create prosperity by strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. industry, promoting trade and investment, and ensuring fair trade and compliance with trade laws and agreements. Trade.gov provides access to ITA’s valuable information and services on U.S. international trade policy.
Tel.: +1- (301) 975-NIST (6478)
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-1070 U.S.A.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): Founded in 1901, NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Its mission is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve the quality of life. It carries out its mission in four cooperative programmes:(i) the NIST Laboratories, conducting research that advances the nation’s technology infrastructure and is needed by U.S. industry to continually improve products and services; (ii) the Baldrige National Quality Program, which promotes performance excellence among U.S. manufacturers, service companies, educational institutions, healthcare providers, and non-profit organizations, conducts outreach programmes and manages the annual Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award which recognizes performance excellence and quality achievement; (iv) the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a nationwide network of local centers offering technical and business assistance to smaller manufacturers; and (v) the Technology Innovation Program, which provides cost-shared awards to industry, universities, and consortia for research on potentially revolutionary technologies that address critical national and societal needs. Between 1990 and 2007, NIST also managed the Advanced Technology Program.
Tel: 1-212-548-0600 Fax:1-212-548-4600
Open Society Institute (OSI): The OSI works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, it builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities.
Tel: (310) 393-0411
Fax: (310) 393-4818
Santa Monica, CA 90401-3208
RAND Corporation is a non-profit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis. It has pursued its non-profit mission by conducting research on important and complicated problems. It conducts research and provides analysis to address challenges that face the United States. The RAND researchers and analysts continue to be on the cutting edge of their fields, working with decision makers in both the public and private sectors to find solutions to today’s difficult, sensitive, and important problems. The high caliber of its researchers is evidenced by the many Nobel Laureates who have been affiliated with RAND, either as employees, consultants, or in an advisory capacity.
Toll free tel.: 800.565.3946
Tel.: +1-202.565.3946
Fax: +1-202.565.3380
United States Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank): The EX-Im Bank is the official export credit agency of the United States. Its mission is to assist in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to international markets. It provides working capital guarantees (pre-export financing); export credit insurance; and loan guarantees and direct loans (buyer financing). Ex-Im Bank has supported more than US$400 billion of U.S. exports, primarily to developing markets worldwide, over the last 70 years. Its short-term insurance policies protect exporters against non-payment by their foreign buyers due to both commercial risks (insolvency, bankruptcy and default) and political risks (war, revolution, transfer risk) and allows exporters to extend competitive credit terms to their foreign buyers. The Ex-Im Bank provides U.S. exporters with the financing tools needed to successfully compete for business in Africa. Its products and initiatives help U.S. exporters in all regions of Africa, including high-risk and emerging markets. Through its special Trade Finance Initiative for Africa it provides importers from Africa with short-term and medium-term loans to finance imports of US goods.
Tel: 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332)
United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA): The FDA is responsible for protecting the US public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, food supply, cosmetics and products that emit radiation. Beyond the US borders, the FDA also provides support to developing countries through its international programmes. It has established an in-country presence in China, India, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. It provides a number of areas in which to establish a permanent in-country presence. The FDA has launched an initiative called “Beyond our Borders” which promotes closer collaboration with foreign counterparts; provides technical assistance to foreign regulators and industries; and establishes overseas offices in foreign countries. It also runs a Capacity Building Programme which includes a range of education, outreach, and other activities where it collaborates with its regulatory counterparts in other countries to improve regulatory infrastructures, preventive controls and production practices to help ensure the safety and quality of imported products into the U.S.
Tel.: +1- 800-786-9199 (toll-free)
571 272-1000 (local)
600 Dulany Street Alexandria, VA 22314 U.S.A.
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), another agency of the Department of Commerce, is the federal agency for granting U.S. patents and registering trademarks. The USPTO advises the President of the United States, the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Government agencies on intellectual property (IP) policy, protection, and enforcement, and promotes stronger and more effective IP protection around the world. It furthers effective IP protection for U.S. innovators and entrepreneurs worldwide by working with other agencies to secure strong IP provisions in free trade and other international agreements. It also provides training, education, and capacity-building programmes designed to foster respect for IP and encourage the development of strong IP enforcement regimes by U.S. trading partners. USPTO runs the Global Intellectual Property Academy, which offers training in all aspects of intellectual property policy, protection and enforcement.
Tel.: +1-202-395-2839 Fax:+1-202-395-2961
Washington, DC 20508 USA
United States Trade Representative (USTR) Trade and Development Office: The USTR is responsible for developing and coordinating U.S. international trade, commodity, and direct investment policy, and over- seeing negotiations with other countries. The U.S. Trade Representative, a Cabinet member, serves as the president’s principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on trade issues. The USTR Office is part of the Executive Office of the President. Through an interagency structure, the Office coordinates trade policy, resolves disagreements, and frames issues for presidential decision. USTR’s Trade and Development office develops policy and coordinates efforts to improve the effectiveness of trade-related development assistance worldwide, and to increase funding to trade-related economic growth programmes. The USTR serves as vice chairman of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), is on the Board of Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, is a non-voting member of the Export-Import Bank Board of Directors, and a member of the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Policies. The USTR consults with other government agencies on trade policy matters through the Trade Policy Review Group (TPRG) and the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC). These groups, administered and chaired by the USTR and composed of 19 federal agencies and offices, make up the sub-cabinet level mechanism for developing and coordinating U.S. Government positions on international trade and trade-related investment issues.
Selected TCB programmes and initiatives in this guide
Bolivian Productivity and Competitiveness Project (BPC Project)
Growth with Equity in Mindanao-3 (GEM-3) Programme
Integrated Initiatives for Economic Growth in Mali (IICEM)
The Competitiveness and Trade Expansion Programme
Trade Accession and Facilitation for Afghanistan
Trade Development for Small and Medium Enterprises (formerly known as Trade and Innovation)
USAID Agribusiness Project
Azerbaijan Competitiveness and Trade (ACT)
AGOA Sanitary and Phytosanitary Capacity Building Program-AGCI
CODEX Outreach Capacity Building Programme
Enforcement Study Tour
Enhance Ability of Exporters to Meet Sanitary and Phytosanitary Requirements (Central America)
9th Interpol Intellectual Property Crime Training Seminar
Maximizing Agricultural Revenue through Knowledge Enterprise Development and Trade
Poverty Reduction by Increasing the Competitiveness of Enterprises (PRICE)
Regional Trade Liberalization and Customs Project - Central Asian Republics
Worldwide Support for Trade Capacity Building (TCBoost)
USAID Partnership for Trade Facilitation
Authorized Economic Operator Handbook
Post-Clearance Audit Handbook
Border Management ICT Tool
Africa Infrastructure Program (AIP)
Economic Growth Hubs Infrastructure and Competitiveness
Rwanda Rural Feeder Roads Improvement Program (RFRIP)
Moldova Business Regulatory and Tax Administration Reform Project (BIZTAR)
Development Credit Authority (DCA)
Technical Assistance: Honduras - Revenue Administration and Policy
USAID financing to strengthen the International Trade Center between the years 2002-2012 is $1,652,000. Financing and a joint work program comprise support for the activities of developing country investment and trade promotion agencies, exporters and others to improve their abilities to effectively utilize the ITC’s market analysis tools to efficiently research international trade and investment possibilities and develop effective export strategies. Since 2002, some 11,000 users have benefitted directly or indirectly from the ITC training workshop programs USAID supports. In 2012 the work program focuses on Investment Map, dealing with country FDI volumes and flows and other investment concerns, as well as the ITC’s other market analysis tools (Trade Map, Country Map, Product Map and Market Access Map). Recent training sessions have included Bangladesh, Armenia, Colombia, Kenya, Washington, Trinidad & Tobago (a regional workshop with participants from 9 countries and 12 organizations), and Tajikistan.
Since 2010, USAID has supported the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) for trade-related technical assistance to Least Developed Countries. The EIF is helping to bridge the gap between demand and supply for Aid for Trade and to mainstream trade into national development plans. The EIF maps out and prioritizes key needs for trade-related assistance and shares these priorities with the donor community of each country for accessing funding beyond the resources available in the Framework’s own Trust Fund. LDCs can channel their demand for Aid for Trade through the EIF process (involving Diagnostic Trade Integration Studies). The supply of resources is coordinated through local EIF institutions, such as the EIF Focal Point, the National Implementation Unit and the Donor Facilitator.
USAID’s TCBoost project partnered with the World Bank, UN FAO, UNOPS and IADB on various activities. In addition the project developed a special rapport with the WCO, partnering on the customs modernization handbooks, border management ICT tool, and Latin America & Caribbean (LAC) Post-Clearance Audit training (for more information, see “Tools and Best Practices” and “Training” below). TCBoost was also invited to participate in WCO annual work planning sessions and to present at WCO conferences worldwide (Dublin, Seoul, Addis Ababa, Singapore, Johannesburg, Nairobi) . Specific areas of collaboration included the following (further details are provided under Trade Facilitation below):
- Authorized Economic Operator Handbook
- Post-Clearance Audit Handbook
- Border Management ICT Tool
In another example, USAID’s commitment to customs capacity building as part of their Trade Facilitation and “Aid for Trade” agenda includes the USAID Partnership for Trade Facilitation which specifically targets WCO and client-country priorities in the areas of Advance Rulings, Pre-Arrival Processing and Internet Publishing. Projects are currently under design or being implemented in 17 low income and lower middle income countries.
USAID also works closely with a number of UN organizations in the areas of agricultural trade, particularly IFAD and the FAO in the context of trade as it relates to agriculture. USAID’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition brings UN bodies, donors, private sector companies, and developing countries together in a new partnership that would expand investment opportunities in African agriculture by matching commitments from the private sector with commitments from African countries to implement serious market-oriented reforms. So far, more than 70 global and local companies have committed more than $4 billion. At the same time, six African countries have developed cooperation frameworks to guide reforms—evidence of which is already beginning to take shape. For example, Tanzania has publically committed to removing its export ban on staple commodities that has in the past been implemented during food emergencies. Other commitments relate to trade facilitation measures.