Sec. 2. Findings
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Congress makes the following findings: The expansion of international trade is vital to the economic growth and national security of the United States. Stable trading relationships promote security and prosperity, and leadership by the United States in international trade fosters the expansion of open markets and democracy. United States aid to developing countries for trade capacity building can have other positive side effects such as promoting best practices, promoting good governance, combating corruption, and reforming legal regimes.
Private sector-led trade and investment are fundamental components of sustainable economic development and growth. United States trade capacity assistance should facilitate the reduction or elimination of non-tariff trade barriers that inhibit the ability of developing countries to implement trade agreements and participate in the global economy. Reducing trade transaction costs through trade capacity improvements and trade facilitation reforms will assist United States exporters and small and medium-size enterprises reach new customers in the developing world.
Reducing these costs through trade facilitation reforms will assist developing country businesses to trade and invest with each other and enter into and take advantage of global supply and value chains. According to the United States Trade Representative, the United States is the largest single-country provider of trade-related assistance (also called trade capacity building assistance or Aid for Trade ). At the 9th Ministerial of the World Trade Organization in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2013, the 159 members of the World Trade Organization
(WTO)concluded the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the first global World Trade Organization trade agreement in 20 years. The Members of the WTO amended the WTO agreement to include the Trade Facilitation Agreement on November 27, 2014, and opened it for acceptance by members. The Trade Facilitation Agreement includes measures and obligations designed to streamline customs procedures, increase customs transparency, and speed the flow of goods across borders. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, full implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement could reduce trade costs by as much as an estimated 16.5 percent of low income countries, 17 percent for lower-middle income countries, 14.6 percent for upper-middle income countries, and 11.8 percent for OECD countries. The Trade Facilitation Agreement contains commitments by all World Trade Organization members to implement commitments on trade facilitation under a timetable. The TFA includes commitments by developed countries to assist developing countries come into compliance with the obligations of the TFA. According to the Government Accountability Office, in 2012, the United States Government spent nearly $1,000,000,000 in trade capacity building efforts in 120 countries, which were implemented by 20 United States Government departments and agencies. According to testimony provided by the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, there is no single coordinating agency for trade capacity building activities in the United States Government. Each agency has its own processes for ensuring proper and effective programming of its appropriated funds. To enhance the effort to eliminate non-tariff barriers, a clear, whole-of-government strategy with appropriate coordination is needed to leverage limited trade capacity funds to achieve the ambitious goals laid out in the Trade Facilitation Agreement.