Washington, D.C. - United States Trade Representative Michael Froman and Nepali Minister of Commerce Jayant Chand held the second meeting of the U.S.-Nepal Trade and Investment Framework Agreement Council. The council meeting provides a forum for the United States and Nepal to engage on a range of bilateral trade and investment issues, such as intellectual property, standards and conformity assessment, technical cooperation, labor, manufacturing, sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures, and capacity building, as well as coordinate on multilateral and regional issues.
"Following President Obama's support for Nepal's economic recovery in the wake of last year's devastating earthquake, today's TIFA Council meeting affirms our commitment to strengthen U.S.-Nepal trade and investment relations," Ambassador Froman said.
Background
The Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Between the Government of Nepal and the United States of America entered into force on April 15, 2011. One of its main objectives is to expand trade, investment and technical cooperation and strengthen economic relations between the parties. Nepal, a land-locked least developed country, also benefits from the United States Generalized System of Preferences program, which provides preferential access to the U.S. market for up to 5,000 tariff lines duty free. Nepal and the United States had $123 million in total (two way) goods trade during 2015.
