The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently issued a Federal Register notice seeking public comment on its annual National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE Report). USTR is inviting public assistance in identifying significant foreign barriers to, or distortions of, U.S. exports of goods and services and U.S. foreign direct investment. USTR will also consider responses to this notice as part of the annual review of the operation and effectiveness of all U.S. trade agreements regarding telecommunications products. Comments are due by October 30, 2025.
The annual NTE Report (required by Section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974) identifies barriers to and distortions of U.S. exports of goods and services. The Report encompasses all U.S. industries broadly, and includes information on agricultural commodities, intellectual property, foreign direct investment in the United States, and e-commerce barriers. Its purpose is to facilitate USTR’s work in negotiating and enforcing U.S. trade laws to better protect U.S. interests.
Request for Comment
According to USTR’s notice, specific topics for comment include unfair import policies, investment restrictions, unfair subsidies, anticompetitive practices, and any other practice or policies that inhibit or distort the U.S. exports of goods and services. These trade-distortive policies and practices include duty evasion and circumvention, policies to exclude U.S. goods and services from the marketplace, limitations on foreign equity participation in business, export subsidies that displace U.S. goods in third-country markets, and government-tolerated anticompetitive conduct.
All comments should include an estimate of the increase in exports that would result from removing the barrier identified in the comment, as well as the title of the specific law, measure or trade agreement being violated, if applicable. The request for comment places particular emphasis on any practices that might violate existing trade agreements, and specifically requests information on whether any foreign government that is a party to a U.S. telecommunications agreement is failing to comply with its terms.
Lastly, USTR is asking for any updates to information covered in the 2025 Report, which was released March 31 and is available here.
Cameron Anderson, a Law Clerk in the International Trade practice, contributed to this alert.
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