Santiago Herdoiza, senior associate at Dentons Global Advisors-Albright Stonebridge Group: “The creation of a fair-trade working group on the digital economy, labor and environment is a positive step toward enhancing economic ties under the U.S.-Ecuador Trade and Investment Council mechanism. In particular, it grants momentum for a potential expansion of the 2021 Protocol on Trade Rules and Transparency, through which Ecuador seeks to secure greater U.S. investment flows and market access for main exports such as agricultural goods. Although ongoing commercial talks are limited in scope, the working group offers President Guillermo Lasso a platform to garner support for his government’s socioeconomic agenda. The digitalization of Ecuador’s public services, such as health care, and the eradication of child and informal labor, would certainly benefit from U.S. technology and know-how. The United States could also help Ecuador build an environmentally responsible mining sector, which, despite being largely underdeveloped, has emerged as…”