Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- US Trade Representative Katherine Tai welcomed Uzbekistan’s interest in quickly ending the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai visited Uzbekistan from 11 to 12 June. During the visit, Katherine Tai held negotiations with the leadership and officials of Uzbekistan. The US Trade Office released a joint statement following the visit.

The statement said that the United States and Uzbekistan affirmed their commitment to diversifying the bilateral trade and investment relationship and to deepening dialogue on shared economic priorities. 

Ambassador Tai noted general support for US Congressional efforts to revitalize and renew the Generalized System of Preferences program and recognized GSP’s role in supporting export diversification in Uzbekistan.  Ambassador Tai welcomed engagement on reforms in Uzbekistan as well as Uzbekistan’s interest in the expeditious termination of the application of the Jackson-Vanik amendment.
 
Ambassador Tai welcomed Uzbekistan’s intent to continue improving workers’ right to freedom of association in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of progress made to eliminate forced labor.
 
The United States expressed full support for Uzbekistan’s firm commitment to prioritizing WTO accession and pledged support for ongoing domestic reforms to align Uzbekistan’s trading regime with WTO rules and principles. The United States and Uzbekistan were pleased with the significant progress made this year in bilateral market access negotiations, and extended mutual interest in their completion in the near future. 

As part of an active accession process, the United States welcomed Uzbekistan’s efforts to date in aligning its national legislation and practices in line with WTO agreements. In particular, advancing efforts to bring Uzbekistan’s trade facilitation measures into conformity with the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement was a strong indication of its commitment to the multilateral trading system. 

In addition, the Governments welcomed the opportunity for US federally authorized meat and poultry establishments to export their products to Uzbekistan as of 1 June 2024.
 
Uzbekistan noted its ongoing progress on trade related intellectual property, in order to accelerate WTO accession process. Ambassador Tai congratulated Uzbekistan on being removed from the Special 301 Watch List, due to sustained improvement in the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Uzbekistan expressed readiness to continue working closely together on intellectual property rights issues, including to address reported increases in the availability of counterfeit goods within the country.
 
The Governments emphasized that transparency and stakeholder consultations promote the development of better regulations, prevent and reduce non-tariff barriers, support compliance with international trade obligations, and are necessary to foster long-term economic resilience and attract sustainable investment. They welcomed US support for strengthening Central Asia’s trade and transport links and recognized how high-quality US products and services can benefit those efforts.
 
The United States and Uzbekistan committed to further collaboration on women’s economic empowerment and disability rights, highlighting the importance of ensuring that the benefits of trade extend to all workers, and supply chain resilience.