Trade and Development Agency

The Trade and Development Agency advances economic development and U. S. commercial interest in developing and middle-income countries in the following regions of the world: East Asia, Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The Trade and Development Program was established on July 1, 1980, as a component organization of the International Development Cooperation Agency. Section 2204 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (22 U. S. C. 2421) made it a separate component agency. The organization was renamed the Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and made an independent agency within the executive branch of the Federal Government on October 28, 1992, by the Jobs Through Exports Act of 1992 (22 U. S. C. 2421).