ISDS Case Map
TIFA
Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (USA)
Bangladesh will resume the pending talks with the United States on reaching a deal--Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA)--as new governments in both the countries have assumed offices.
Bangladesh will resume the pending talks with the United States on striking a deal --Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) -- as new governments in both the countries have assumed office.
The US authorities have scrapped the draft of the trade and investment framework agreement (TIFA) that took shape in lengthy negotiations in a span of two years between Dhaka and Washington. Instead, the US Trade Representative's office has recently sent a reworded draft to Bangladesh's commerce ministry for consideration, which indicates that Washington has not lost its interest in concluding the agreement.
Back in June 2003, then Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, who had signed the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement on Pakistan's behalf, said that Pakistan hoped the TIFA would eventually lead to a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries. But neither at that time nor in all the years since then has there been any promise from the US side to follow-up on a Free Trade Agreement.
The US-Sri Lanka TIFA Council discussed issues affecting US exports, such as Sri Lanka's agricultural biotechnology policies, import tariffs, intellectual property rights protection, and transparency in government procurement.
The UAE has taken a second route to an FTA with the US after failing to meet the time frame originally established by the Trade Promotion Authority granted by Congress: the Tifa-Plus (Trade and Investment Framework Agreement) process, which provides a framework for further discussions on the FTA and on short-term issues.
Government officials in Kuwait expressed their keenness over signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States but a senior US economic representative recently noted that talks with regards to the issue are ongoing.
The United States remains lukewarm to the Philippines' push for a free trade agreement. While the US is seeking Philippine support in the WTO talks, the Philippines is asking the US government to move forward on an FTA or at least craft a new trade and investment framework agreement.
