A top US trade representative is scheduled to meet here today with Government and business leaders to discuss proposed trade agreements that could mean more commerce for Jamaica.

Ambassador Peter Allgeier, deputy trade representative, is scheduled to meet with minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, K D Knight, and Ambassador Richard Bernal, head of Caricom’s Regional Negotiating Machinery, as well as business leaders.

Today’s talks are expected to focus on the status of regional trade negotiations and trade capacity building in developing countries, according to a written statement from the US Embassy.

Allgeier’s visit follows the Bush administration’s ambitious proposal last week to introduce new measures to govern trade in agriculture, including the reduction of domestic subsidies.

US Embassy officials say the proposals will benefit developing and developed countries. However, Jamaican business and Government leaders have expressed scepticism that the proposals will put Jamaica and other developing countries on a level playing-field with the US.

Allgeier is responsible for supervising US trade negotiations with Europe and the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada. He is the key negotiator for the implementation of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas and supervises negotiations in the World Trade Organisation and other multinational institutions.

A former international economist at the United States Agency for International Development, Allgeier is a visiting economics instructor at Duke University. He was nominated by President George W Bush and confirmed by the US Senate on May 26, 2001.