The United States Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, on Friday signed a U.S.Guatemala agreement on reciprocal trade with the country’s economic minister, the USTR’s office revealed in a statement.
“The agreement addresses trade barriers facing American workers and producers, expands and solidifies markets for U.S. exports, and strengthens strategic economic ties in the Western Hemisphere,” Greer said.
The Guatemala Agreement, officially known as the Asylum Cooperative Agreement (ACA), was signed in 2019 between the United States and Guatemala as part of efforts to curb irregular migration to the U.S. Under the agreement, certain asylum seekers arriving at the U.S. border, particularly from Honduras and El Salvador could be transferred to Guatemala to seek asylum there instead of in the United States.
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U.S. officials said the policy was designed to discourage dangerous migration journeys and ease pressure on the American asylum system by requiring migrants to apply for protection in the first country they entered. However, the agreement quickly drew criticism from human rights groups and Guatemalan civil society, who questioned whether Guatemala had the security, economic capacity, and institutional support needed to host vulnerable asylum seekers.
The policy was suspended in 2021 following a change in U.S. administration, effectively ending Guatemala’s role as a destination for transferred asylum seekers.
REUTERS