Support for Caribbean trade and economic interests in the USA

BY Elizabeth Morgan

I was recently surprised to read that the non-profit Caribbean-Central American Action (CCAA), formed nearly 40 years ago by US and regional business leaders based in Washington, DC, will close at the end of this month. As it states in the farewell letter on its website, the CCAA was an advocate for the region in the USA with its focus on advancing economic growth and contributing to the well-being of the peoples of the Caribbean and Central America. This closure was raised by David Jessop of the Caribbean Council in the UK in his syndicated column published in the Sunday Gleaner of October 7, 2018, titled ‘The Caribbean has lost a Friend’ and in a letter by Wesley Kirton, president of the Guyana American Chamber of Commerce in Florida to the editor of Guyana’s Stabroek News on October 10, 2018, titled ‘CCAA has folded when it is most needed’. It is noted that concern about this closure was not raised from within the Caribbean as is the case with so many issues.

In the 1980s, the CCAA actively supported the adoption of legislation for the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). It continued to support the interests of the Caribbean and Central American countries through organising conferences, seminars and workshops, among other activities. In recent times, its principal vehicles have been the annual Miami Conference on the Caribbean and sensitisation sessions with congressional representatives on Capitol Hill, which brought together officials from the USA and the Caribbean and Central America from government, the private sector and civil society.

Views on the effectiveness of CCAA are mixed. It seems that although leaders from the Caribbean continued to attend the conference on the Caribbean, in the last 20 years, the Caribbean engagement with CCAA was tenuous. It could be that it was taken for granted that CCAA was self-supporting, self-motivated, and would continue to exist. The dialogue between CCAA and its Caribbean stakeholders perhaps needed to be more rigorous to ensure that the body was meeting the specific needs of the region and to encourage more Caribbean private sector engagement. There might also have been need for better coordination with other existing groups.

Many countries need to have their interests promoted in Washington, DC, and have well-organised and financed interest groups. Others hire lobbyists to provide this support. As small, developing countries, the Caribbean, although all countries are represented in Washington, DC, lacks resources. Diplomatic representatives are stretched covering both the USA and the Organization of American States (OAS). Even though it is supposed to be the USA’s “third border”, the region needs the support of others to continuously keep its interests within sight of those in the Federal corridors of power.

The Caribbean does have support in the USA, in Congress, through the bipartisan Caribbean Caucus co-chaired by representatives Yvette Clarke (Dem) of New York and Maxine Waters (Dem) of California, and in the Congressional Black Caucus. In 2005, representative Barbara Lee (Dem) of California, with the Caribbean Caucus, secured adoption of legislation establishing the annual Caribbean American Heritage Month celebrated each June. The month is intended to recognise the contribution to America’s development of persons of Caribbean origin and ancestry. Recall that famed Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton came from Nevis. More recently, former Secretary of State Colin Powell has Jamaican ancestry, as does representative Yvette Clarke, who was honoured by Jamaica on National Heroes’ Day, along with Harry Belafonte and Grace Jones. So the Caribbean American Heritage Month provides the opportunity to focus on the achievements of Caribbean-Americans and on Caribbean culture as well as to promote issues of interest to the region. I understand that the Institute of Caribbean Studies in Washington, DC, endeavours to use the month for this purpose.

The 2016 US/Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act was sponsored by Representative Eliot Engels (Dem) of New York and Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Rep) of Florida, both having interest in the Caribbean through their constituents. The 2017 Bill proposing the extension of the CBI’s Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) is sponsored by representatives Terri Sewel (Dem) of Alabama and representative Carlos Curbello (Rep) of Florida, who were not customarily known proponents of Caribbean issues. They acted following the severe damage in the Caribbean from hurricanes Marie and Irma.

The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), headquartered in Washington, DC, operates in the Caribbean with offices in Jamaica, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. AMCHAM is affiliated with the US Chamber of Commerce and promotes trade and investment between the USA and its member countries.

While the Caribbean has friends in the US Congress, support from within the private sector and civil society, and definitely in the Diaspora, there is no doubt that the CCAA, as a permanent advocate and source of information and assistance, will be missed. The annual conference on the Caribbean, usually held in December, provided another forum outside of the Heritage Month to focus at a high level, specifically on Caribbean trade and economic issues.

With the demise of CCAA, I hope that the groups working to strengthen Caribbean/US relations, especially in trade and economic issues, will better coordinate and actually follow a clear agenda in a more sustained manner. The 2017 US Strategy for Engagement with the Caribbean provides a guide. The Caribbean private sector needs to better organise itself to collaborate with these interest groups both in the Caribbean and the USA. Especially at this time, the Caribbean needs cohesive, sustained and effective support within the USA.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade and politics.