Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 13 • Number 12 • 1st April 2009
USTR Promises Action to Open Markets to US Exports
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The administration of US President Barack Obama pledged Tuesday to identify and take action against the most significant trade barriers to US exports, either at the WTO or in bilateral or regional forums.
“We must work to open new markets around the world for American farmers, manufacturers, ranchers and service providers, and at the same time ensure that American workers are reaping the promised benefits of previous agreements through strong enforcement,” newly confirmed USTR Ron Kirk said in a statement.
The USTR’s annual “National Trade Estimate” (NTE), which was submitted to Congress on Tuesday, outlines the most significant barriers to the flow of US exports overseas.
The barriers cited in the 536-page report include unjustified testing and certification requirements, ineffective enforcement of copyright violations, discriminatory excise taxes, prohibited export subsidies for ‘national brands’, and limited participation in telecoms markets through high capital requirements and lengthy investment approvals.
Kirk, who took office in mid-March, said in a statement that swift action against trade barriers will advance the US’ economic recovery efforts. Both Kirk and President Obama have promised to give more attention to the enforcement of US trade agreements.
Top Democrats have been pushing for just such a review. In a letter to President Obama dated 26 March, Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee, which covers trade, outlined more than two dozen alleged foreign trade barriers or violations of trade rules.
The legislators called on the administration to “systematically improve its ability to eliminate barriers and open foreign markets to US exporters.” Failure to take action would increase the trade deficit and foreign-owned US debt, they said.
The 26 March letter argued that lax enforcement under the Bush administration contributed to the largest trade deficit on record and may have played a role in the current financial crisis.
Such pressures to protect domestic markets contrast sharply with recent exhortations from world leaders and multilateral institutions for governments to keep trade lines open for the sake of the global economy. How the Obama administration will balance such competing calls remains to be seen.
With US exports slumping in response to the global financial crisis, the Obama administration needs a broader strategy to open markets, Congressman Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican, said in a speech on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
“Our economy cannot grow on enforcement alone. It must be accompanied with an offensive game plan” that includes congressional action on three pending free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, Brady said.
The 2009 NTE report is available here http://ustr.gov/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2009/2009_National_Trade_Estimate_Report_on_Foreign_Trade_Barriers/Section_Index.html
ICTSD reporting; “USTR promises action on foreign trade barriers,” REUTERS, 31 March 2009; “US trade team responds to protectionist pressure In reports on trading partners,” IP WATCH, 31 March 2009.
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