(6) Reducing trade transaction costs through 
trade capacity improvements and trade facilitation 
reforms will assist United States exporters and small 
and medium-size enterprises reach new customers in 
developing countries. Reducing these costs through 
trade facilitation reforms will assist developing coun-
try businesses to trade and invest with each other 
and take advantage of global supply and value 
chains. 
(7) According to the United States Trade Rep-
resentative, ‘‘the United States is one of the largest 
single-country providers of trade-related assistance’’ 
(also called trade capacity building assistance or 
‘‘Aid for Trade’’). 
(8) At the 9th Ministerial of the World Trade 
Organization in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2013, 
the 159 members of the World Trade Organization 
(WTO) concluded the Trade Facilitation Agreement 
(TFA), the first global WTO trade agreement in 20 
years. WTO members amended the WTO agree-
ments to include the TFA on November 27, 2014, 
and opened it for acceptance by WTO members. The 
TFA entered into force on February 22, 2017, after 
ratification by two-thirds of the WTO membership. 
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(9) The TFA includes measures and obligations 
designed to streamline customs procedures, increase 
customs transparency, and speed the flow of goods 
across borders. 
(10) According to the Organization for Eco-
nomic Cooperation and Development (OECD), full 
implementation of the TFA could reduce trade costs 
by as much as an estimated 16.5 percent of low in-
come countries, 17 percent for lower-middle income 
countries, 14.6 percent for upper-middle income 
countries, and 11.8 percent for OECD countries. 
(11) The OECD has noted that trade barriers 
created by ineffective policies and burdensome rules 
and procedures can incentivize corrupt business 
practices, and therefore all relevant stakeholders 
have an interest in supporting efforts to streamline 
trade regulation and reduce non-tariff barriers. 
(12) The TFA requires developing countries to 
identify impediments to trade facilitation and com-
mits developed countries to assist developing coun-
tries’ efforts to come into compliance with the obli-
gations of the TFA. 
(13) The United States is the largest provider 
of trade capacity building assistance in the world, 
according to the United States Agency for Inter-
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national Development. In 2017, the United States 
Government obligated nearly $1,100,000,000 in 
trade capacity building efforts in over 130 countries, 
which were implemented by more than a dozen 
United States Government departments and agen-
cies. 
(14) There is no single coordinating agency for 
trade capacity building activities in the United 
States Government. Each agency has its own proc-
esses for ensuring proper and effective programming 
of its appropriated funds. 
(15) A clear, whole-of-government strategy is 
needed to leverage and coordinate limited trade ca-
pacity funds to implement the TFA, advance pro-
ductive international trading relationships for United 
States businesses, workers, consumers, foreign trad-
ing partners, and promote inclusive economic growth 
and opportunity in developing countries. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
Committee on Ways and Means, and the Com-
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mittee on Appropriations of the House of Rep-
resentatives; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, 
the Committee on Finance, and the Committee 
on Appropriations of the Senate. 
(2) PRIVATE SECTOR.—The term ‘‘private sec-
tor’’ means for-profit United States businesses and 
not-for-profit entities. 
(3) TRADE CAPACITY BUILDING ASSISTANCE.— 
The term ‘‘trade capacity building assistance’’ 
means United States bilateral, regional, or multilat-
eral assistance, the primary purpose of which is to 
support the following activities for developing coun-
tries: 
(A) Technical assistance to assist in acced-
ing, implementing, and adhering to inter-
national trade agreements, including trade pol-
icy development, trade negotiations assistance, 
administrative management of trade obliga-
tions, regulatory reform related to trade agree-
ments, and trade-related education. 
(B) Technical assistance to improve gov-
ernance and transparency with respect to im-
ports, exports, and international investment, in-
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cluding improvement of the investment climate 
and investor protections. 
(C) Technical assistance to enable micro-, 
small-, and medium-size enterprises to trade 
and access markets more efficiently. 
(D) Technical assistance to establish and 
implement internationally recognized standards. 
(E) Assistance to reduce nontariff barriers 
to trade at national borders, including technical 
assistance to reform and modernize customs op-
erations and procedures and to expedite the 
movement, release, and clearance of goods, in-
cluding goods in transit. 
(F) Assistance that will contribute directly 
and substantially to facilitating trade flows. 
(4) RELEVANT
EXECUTIVE
BRANCH
AGEN-
CIES.—The term ‘‘relevant executive branch agen-
cies’’ means any Federal department or agency that 
the President determines to be substantially involved 
in programs to provide trade capacity building as-
sistance. 
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 
It is the policy of the United States to— 
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