USTR Seeking Comments for Annual Foreign Trade Barriers Report

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative’s Trade Policy Staff Committee is requesting public comments by Oct. 27 on significant foreign barriers to U.S. exports for inclusion in USTR’s 2017 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, USTR said (here). Specifically, USTR is seeking information on obstructive or inefficient foreign import policies, government procurement restrictions, export subsidies, intellectual property protections, service and investment barriers, government-tolerated “anticompetitive conduct” of firms that restricts sale of U.S. goods in foreign markets, ecommerce-related trade restrictions, sanitary/phytosanitary barriers, localization barriers, unwarranted standards, conformity assessment procedures, onerous technical regulations, and/or “other barriers,” USTR said. Submissions should include an estimate of the potential increase in U.S. exports connected with the elimination of any cited foreign trade barrier, USTR said.