The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s annual National Trade Estimate report enumerating foreign trade barriers also examines how the Trump administration’s reciprocal trade agreements have attempted to address those barriers.
The NTE report describes “significant foreign barriers” to U.S. exports, U.S. foreign direct investment, and U.S. e-commerce in 63 markets. USTR states that trade barriers may be broadly defined as government laws, regulations, policies, or practices (including non-market policies and practices) that distort or undermine fair competition. Examples include measures that protect domestic goods and services from foreign competition, artificially stimulate exports of particular domestic goods and services, or fail to provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights. Non-market policies and practices, such as targeting of industrial sectors for dominance, non-market excess capacity, and distorting activities of state-owned or state-sponsored firms, may create economic and national security risks and undermine U.S. competitiveness.
USTR said this year’s report includes detailed descriptions of provisions in the agreements on reciprocal trade the Trump administration has negotiated with various trading partners that address identified trade barriers. USTR noted that to date the U.S. has signed ARTs with Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan and announced frameworks for ARTs with the European Union, India, Japan, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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