US, Israel agree to expand trade, investment

The U.S. Trade Representative on Friday announced an agreement with Israel on a process to increase trade and investment between the two nations. 

Deputy USTR Miriam Sapiro and Sharon Kedmi, Israel’s director general of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, reached an accord to expand trade opportunities under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement “to realize fully the potential benefits” of the trade deal. 

Plans include removing barriers in the service and agricultural sectors, according to a USTR statement. 

USTR Ron Kirk met with Binyamin Ben-Eliezer — who was then Israel’s minister of industry, trade and labor — in October 2010 in Washington. At that time, they agreed on a plan to expand trade. They also wanted to make further progress ahead of the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement joint committee meeting later this fall. 

“The Obama administration places great importance on the relationship between our countries, and we will continue our collaborative efforts to expand trade and investment opportunities for American and Israeli exporters and investors,” Sapiro said in a news release. 

Sapiro and Kedmi also committed to consider cooperation in other areas, including addressing regulatory issues that might hamper goods and services moving between the two countries.