USTR Issues Its 2008 Report on Foreign Trade Barriers
The Office of U.S. Trade Representative has released its 2008 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE), which is an annual report documenting foreign trade and investment barriers and U.S. actions to reduce and eliminate those barriers.
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According to the USTR, the NTE report lays out the successes and ongoing challenges to free and open trade for U.S. goods and services. The report discusses the Administration's efforts to eliminate trade barriers and unfair trade practices for U.S. workers who produce and export industrial goods, agricultural products and services to the 62 major trading partners covered in the report.
The NTE report covers the following 62 major U.S. trading partners:
| Angola | Ecuador | Korea |
| Arab League | Egypt | Kuwait |
| Argentina | El Salvador | Laos |
| Australia | Ethiopia | Malaysia |
| Bahrain | European Union | Mexico |
| Bolivia | Ghana | Morocco |
| Brazil | Guatemala | New Zealand |
| Cambodia | Honduras | Nicaragua |
| Cameroon | Hong Kong | Nigeria |
| Canada | India | Norway |
| Chile | Indonesia | Oman |
| China | Israel | Pakistan |
| Colombia | Japan | Panama |
| Costa Rica | Jordan | Paraguay |
| Cote d'Ivoire | Kazakhstan | Peru |
| Dominican Republic | Kenya | Philippines |
(Note that the 62 above-listed countries differ from the 2007 list of major U.S. trading partners. In 2008, Uzbekistan was removed from the list.)
Priority Areas for Improvement Include Pending FTAs, Doha Round, Etc.
The USTR lists some priority areas for improvement, including (partial list): working with Congress to approve pending free trade agreements (FTAs) with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea; pursuing a successful World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round Agreement; enforcing U.S. rights, including pursuing enforcement actions on the European Union's undue delays in approving agricultural biotech products and EU's aircraft subsidies to Airbus, Canada's compliance with the 2006 U.S.-Canada Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA 2006); working with countries on eliminating non-science based regulatory barriers to U.S. exports of beef and beef products; building the U.S.-Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA); and continuing negotiations with African nations to open markets.
NTE Report Plays Key Role in Development of 1377 and "Special 301" Reports
According to the USTR, the information gathered for the NTE report plays a key role in providing factual material for its (1) Section 1377 Review, a report that focuses on the barriers facing U.S. telecommunications services and equipment providers and lays out the specific telecommunications-related issues on which USTR will focus its efforts for the year, and (2) "Special 301" annual report on the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection by U.S. trading partners around the world.
USTR press release (dated 03/28/08) available at http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2008/March/Bush_Administration_Submits_Annual_Trade_Report_to_Congress.html- 8 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE) available at http://www.ustr.gov/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2008/2008_NTE_Report/Section_Index.html