[CTC] State Department official: APEP countries eyeing ‘declaration’ in December

[Arthur Stamoulis]

State Department official: APEP countries eyeing ‘declaration’ in December
Inside US Trade, 11/1/22
 
The Biden administration hopes Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity countries can issue a “declaration” in December that will allow them to work “quickly” toward a deal next year, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose Fernandez said on Tuesday.  
 
Fernandez spoke at the U.S. Chamber’s Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean about how the U.S. is trying to promote inclusive, sustainable economic growth in Latin America through initiatives like APEP.
 
President Biden announced the partnership in June <https://insidetrade.com/node/174216> during a speech at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. Since then, though, the administration has yet to release more details on the initiative, including which countries will participate.
 
Fernandez on Tuesday offered a hint of a timeline and suggested initial partner countries could be named soon.
 
“Our goal will be to sometime in December, to have … a declaration with the initial countries in the effort to work in 2023 as quickly as we can,” he said, “so we can finalize an agreement that will bring this to fruition.”
 
The initiative involves five pillars, on investment, supply chain resilience, “updating the basic bargain,” decarbonization and sustainable and inclusive trade, according to a White House fact sheet <https://insidetrade.com/sites/insidetrade.com/files/documents/2022/jun/wto2022_0382a.pdf> released in June.
 
Fernandez said the trade pillar would be “inclusive” and involve benefits for “not just the traditional elites” but also for marginalized groups and small businesses.
 
“What we are trying to do here is to create a forward-looking, innovative and ambitious framework for real cooperation to promote inclusive economic growth,” he said. “Growth that tackles economic inequality that leads to integration in the region, to jobs, and ultimately restores ... faith in democracy by delivering for all people.”  
 
A senior administration official told reporters <https://insidetrade.com/sites/insidetrade.com/files/documents/2022/jun/wto2022_0382b.pdf> in June that the “overall objective” behind APEP was to “build our economies from the bottom up and the middle out by building on the foundation established by our free trade agreements with the region to better address inequality and lack of economic opportunity and equity.”
 
Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month said APEP could “significantly increase <https://insidetrade.com/node/175151>” trade among partners in the region. -- Maydeen Merino (mmerino at iwpnews.com <mailto:mmerino at iwpnews.com>)

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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