Frequently asked questions
What USTEDC is, how it is governed and how its results are verified
Direct answers to the questions most often raised by government agencies, corporate members, investors and institutional partners.
Common questions
Institutional questions and answers
- Is USTEDC a government agency?
- No. USTEDC is a private, non-political corporation focused exclusively on U.S.–Türkiye trade, investment and industrial development. It is designed to operate through private-sector revenue, institutional partnerships and eligible economic-development programmes, and works alongside public agencies, but it exercises no regulatory authority and does not speak for either government.
- How is USTEDC different from DEİK, TOBB, TİM or an AmCham?
- Those organizations convene, represent and advocate. USTEDC executes. It does not replace existing agencies, chambers or trade organizations — it coordinates execution across them through one measurable framework, and is accountable for completed transactions rather than meetings held.
- How is economic impact verified?
- Every reported outcome is tied to a documented member engagement with a defined USTEDC role, checked against anti-double-counting rules, reconciled with official trade and investment statistics, and reviewed by the Independent Advisory Council before quarterly publication.
- Where does USTEDC funding come from?
- It is designed to operate through three sources: corporate and institutional membership, programme and advisory fees, and eligible economic-development programmes where USTEDC qualifies and is awarded funding. No single source is permitted to determine institutional priorities, and any programme-funded work is reported separately.
- Who can become a member?
- Corporations, investors, financial institutions, industry associations, universities, state economic-development organizations and public agencies on either side of the corridor. Membership is subject to compliance screening, including sanctions, export-control and beneficial-ownership review.
- Is USTEDC politically affiliated?
- No. The institution is deliberately non-political and works with whichever administrations and agencies are in office. Its mandate is economic: trade, investment, manufacturing and industrial cooperation.
- What does the $100 billion objective actually refer to?
- It is the bilateral objective for annual two-way trade used as a planning trajectory, not a forecast. USTEDC reports its own contribution separately from national totals so that attributed activity is never presented as the whole bilateral relationship.
- How does an engagement begin?
- With an assessment: market fit, certification and compliance readiness, capital requirements and counterparty options. Only engagements with a realistic path to a completed transaction are taken into the execution pipeline.
- How are conflicts of interest managed?
- Through a written compliance framework: declared interests, recusal rules for transaction governance, separation between advisory and execution mandates, and independent financial oversight reported to the Advisory Council.
- In which languages does USTEDC operate?
- English and Turkish. All institutional publications, programme documentation and impact reporting are issued in both languages.
A question that is not answered here?