PRESS RELEASE 
EMBARGO  
NOT FOR PUBLICATION, OR DISTRIBUTION BY NEWS AGENCIES UNTIL 
1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 22 MARCH 2006  
 
PRESS/TPRB/261 
22 March 2006 
 
(06-1270) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: UNITED STATES 
Openness fuels solid economic growth 
The United States has undergone solid economic growth since its last Trade Policy Review in 2004, aided by the openness and transparency of its tr ade regime which has supported the continuous 
drive for change and efficiency characteristic of  the US economy as a whole, according to a WTO 
Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of the United States.  
During the period under review, the United States, the world’s largest import market and a key 
engine of global growth, continued making incr emental changes to its trade regime, including 
liberalization on an MFN and preferential bases. The report notes, nonetheless, that market access 
barriers and other distorting measures, notably subsidies, persist in a few but important areas, 
and that addressing these distortions would be nefit U.S. consumers and taxpayers and help 
strengthen the global economy. 
 
The report also says that it is important to pre-empt possible protectionist sentiment, which may require efforts in the United States, including through a reduction in public sector absorption, and 
in the rest of the world, through increased spending. 
 The report. along with a policy statement by the Government of the United States, will be the 
basis for the eight Trade Policy Review (TPR) of th e United States by the Trade Policy Review Body 
of the WTO on 22 and 24 March 2006.  
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp261.htm  
 
• Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  > Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  > Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  
• Government report  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). PRESS/TPRB/261 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
China : 10 and 12 April 2006 
United Arab Emirates : 24 and 26 April 2006 
Uruguay : 17 and 19 May 2006 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
END