Business

US-Nepal Discuss Strengthening Trade Relations

The United States-Nepal Council on Trade and Investment, under the United States-Nepal Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), held its fifth meeting virtually on December 15, 2020 to promote expanded bilateral trade and investment in both goods and services. During the meeting, representatives discussed a range of bilateral trade and investment-related issues covered under the TIFA, including, among others, customs and trade facilitation, intellectual property, digital trade and e-commerce, labour, financial services, investment promotion, trade in agriculture products, and utilisation of the Nepal Trade Preference Program. Recognising the important role of digital trade in fostering economic growth, Nepal and the United States agreed to explore ways to deepen engagement on policy developments affecting the digital economy. Nepal and the United States discussed the importance of fully utilising US preferential trade benefits for select products from Nepal, available through December 31, 2025 as a result of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. The United States expressed willingness to provide further technical assistance to Nepal to increase trade and investment. Nepal and the United States had US$ 213.4 million in total (two-way) goods trade during 2019, a 38% increase compared to 2018.