U.S. Trade and Development Agency USTDA

A Trade and Development Program began in 1980 as part of the foreign aid system, and it became an independent agency, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, in 1992. It is led by a Director appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and has a budget of under a hundred million dollars, making it one of the smallest federal agencies.

USTDA funds feasibility studies, technical assistance, and pilot projects that help governments and companies in emerging economies plan infrastructure such as power plants, telecommunications networks, ports, and transportation systems, generally hiring American firms to do the planning. It also brings foreign officials to the United States on reverse trade missions to meet U.S. suppliers. The idea is that early involvement by American companies leads to later export contracts, and the agency tracks the exports associated with its projects.

USTDA often works alongside the Export-Import Bank and the Development Finance Corporation, and it has increasingly framed its work as offering alternatives to Chinese-financed infrastructure. Supporters in both parties say it is a low-cost way to help American companies win business in fast-growing markets, while skeptics question how much of the exports it counts would have happened anyway and whether the government should subsidize corporate project development.