EAA leading effort to ensure U.S. trade agreements include robust trade facilitation sections

EAA members are advocating with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and Congress to ensure that ongoing trade negotiations include economically meaningful facilitation measures for low value shipments that simplify and streamline documentation, expedite border processes, and provide exemptions from paying duties and taxes.  These are significant provisions that overwhelmingly benefit U.S. small-and medium-sized enterprise (SME) exporters, as well as individual consumers.  Trade facilitation provisions have been a central part of U.S. trade agreements for the past three decades, with the aim of encouraging our trading partners to adopt similar measures, which have helped U.S. exporters keep logistics costs low.  Ongoing talks such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the American Partnership for Economic Prosperity, and U.S. bilateral talks with our trading partners should include similar provisions which have been so successful in the past.