USTR Issues 2016 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers
Quinn Bailey and Kathleen L. Benner
The National Trade Estimate (NTE) of the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) provides a yearly account of the state of international trade and outlines the successes and continued challenges faced by negotiators on behalf of American exporters. The conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was the most noteworthy of the events described in the 2016 NTE. If implemented, the TPP would eliminate more than 18,000 foreign taxes on U.S. exports, which is predicted to result in an increase of over $350 billion in annual U.S. exports within the next 15 years.
This past year also saw continued negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the European Union, the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), and the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA), a plurilateral agreement targeting tariffs on environmental technologies with current trade estimated to be nearly $1 trillion. The NTE received attention for recognizing the impact of Internet barriers to trade. It noted that “China’s filtering of cross-border Internet traffic has posed a significant burden to foreign suppliers, hurting both Internet sites themselves, and users who often depend on them for their businesses.”
Appropriations Update: Senate Appropriations Committee Passes FY 2017 C-J-S Bill
William Clarkson
On April 21, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and passed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations bill. Within the Department of Commerce’s annual appropriation, the Committee bill provides $493 million for the International Trade Administration (ITA), including $83 million (the Administration’s requested amount) for ITA’s Enforcement and Compliance Program. The Committee report accompanying the bill highlights the importance of trade enforcement, stating that “ITA should make enforcement of antidumping and countervailing duties a priority, including thoroughly investigating dumping and subsidies causing injury to domestic businesses and expeditiously reducing trade remedy case backlogs.” The bill includes $59,376,000 for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, equal to the President’s budget request and almost $5 million above the 2016 enacted level. With respect to the increased funding, the Committee report notes that it is “primarily for trade enforcement activities.”
Brazil, U.S. Leaders Meet to Discuss Trade Issues
Clint Long
In late March, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and the Brazilian Ministers of External Relations and Development, Industry, and Foreign Trade held the third meeting of the United States-Brazil Commission on Economic and Trade Relations. During the meeting, these leaders discussed trade-related issues including global excess steel capacity and free trade agreements. In preparing for this meeting, and “[r]ecognizing the importance of the manufacturing sector as a key driver of economic growth in both countries, the United States and Brazil also agreed to establish an ongoing dialogue on policies that promote investment in manufacturing.” Trade in goods between Brazil and the United States in 2015 equaled $59 billion.
