AACCLA serves as:
- a reliable source of information on regional trade and investment issues;
- a critical point of communication between the AmChams, members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S. government;
- a vehicle for companies based in the U.S. to reach one of the largest business federations in the hemisphere;
- a coordinator of face-to-face interaction between business and government leaders of the Western Hemisphere; and
- a resource for publications produced by the AmChams, including: membership directories, business guides, investment profiles, and magazines.
Mission
AACCLA’s mission is to promote trade and investment between the United States and the countries of the region through free trade, free markets, and free enterprise.
Program of Work Summary
AACCLA is committed to making this the “Century of the Americas.” Priorities in 2019 include:
- Support congressional approval and full implementation of the U.S.-Colombia and U.S. Panama trade agreements, as well as strong enforcement of existing trade agreements. Pursue additional trade initiatives that are comprehensive, ambitious, and commercially significant, including the Doha Development Agenda, the TransPacific Partnership, bilateral tax and investment treaties, and trade preference programs.
- Underscore the importance of trade liberalization in providing new economic opportunities and support efforts to deepen partnerships and cooperation to ensure that the benefits of free trade and open investment are broadly shared by all. Promote trade and investment openness as central to global economic recovery and reject isolationism in all its forms.
- Promote the adoption of trade facilitation and customs modernization measures throughout the Western Hemisphere that enhance regional and national competitiveness. These include measures that will make the flow of international commerce faster and more efficient and that will reduce trade transaction costs significantly.
- Foster innovation, harness creativity, and champion intellectual property (IP) as vital to creating jobs, saving lives, advancing economic growth, and generating breakthrough solutions to challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Highlight areas in which U.S. business and AmCham member companies are contributing to economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Support regional security while facilitating trade at ports of entry, addressing the movement of goods (customs and port administration) as well as people (visa policy).
- Promote the rule of law as a critical factor in fostering a hemispheric investment climate that supports equality, economic growth, and shared prosperity for the citizens of Latin America and the Caribbean. Foster a global business environment where countries respect the rule of law, foster legal certainty, and provide due process under law to investors, producers, and service providers of every nationality by highlighting shortcomings related to the rule of law and advocating for their prompt and just resolution. Support constitutionalism as the underpinning for the broader application of the rule of law.