Bilateral Trade Affairs

The Office of Bilateral Trade Affairs promotes free and fair trade on behalf of American exporters and their workers.

BTA plays a key role in developing, negotiating, implementing, and enforcing U.S. trade policy in every region of the world, including through free trade agreements, trade and investment framework agreements, and trade preference programs.

The Office of Bilateral Trade Affairs (BTA) promotes free and fair trade on behalf of American exporters and their workers. BTA regularly meets with the private sector, civil society, academia, other U.S. government agencies, and Congress to ensure that U.S. foreign policy reflects the vital importance of trade to American prosperity.  BTA works to advance the State Department’s critical role in trade and economic relations through key initiatives, including:

• Supporting Administration efforts to negotiate, ratify, implement and enforce new and existing trade agreements;
• Coordinating the Department’s work on economic bilateral dialogues, including the U.S.-Korea Strategic Economic Dialogue; the U.S.-U.A.E. Economic Policy Dialogue, and the U.S.-Iceland Economic Dialogue
• Supporting the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) and the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD);
• Promoting development in Africa through implementation of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act;
• Assisting the U.S. Ambassador to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and coordinating with regional bureaus on the Summit, Ministerial, and related meetings; and
• Working to expand trade with the Middle East and North Africa by promoting bilateral and regional cooperation.