RESTRICTED  WORLD  TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/TPR/S/235 
25 August 2010  
 
(10-4280) 
Trade Policy Review Body  
   
 
  
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW 
 
Report by the Secretariat 
 
UNITED STATES 
 
  
 
This report, prepared for the tenth Trade Policy Review of the United States, has 
been drawn up by the WTO Secretaria t on its own responsibility.  The 
Secretariat has, as required by the Agreement establishing the Trade Policy 
Review Mechanism (Annex 3 of the Ma rrakesh Agreement Establishing the 
World Trade Organization), sought clarification from United States on its trade 
policies and practices. 
 
Any technical questions arising from this report may be addressed to 
Mr. John Finn (tel:  022 739 5081), Mr. Karsten Steinfatt (tel:  022 739 6759) 
and Mr. Raymundo Valdés (tel:  022 739 5346). 
 
Document WT/TPR/G/235 contains the policy statement submitted by the 
United States. 
 
 
Note: This report is subject to restricted circ ulation and press embargo until the end of the first 
session of the meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body on the United States. United States WT/TPR/S/235 
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CONTENTS 
 Page 
OVERVIEW   vii 
I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 1 
 (1) N ATIONAL INCOME AND ECONOMIC BALANCES  1 
 (2) M ONETARY AND FISCAL POLICIES  5 
 (3) D EVELOPMENTS IN TRADE AND INVESTMENT  7 
 (i) Merchandise trade 7 
 (ii) Trade in services 10 
 (iii) Foreign direct investment 10 
II. TRADE AND INVESTMENT POLICY FRAMEWORK 12 
 (1) T RADE POLICY FORMULATION  12 
 (2) P ARTICIPATION IN THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION  13 
 (3) P REFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENTS AND ARRANGEMENTS  15 
 (i) Bilateral and regional preferences 15 
 (ii) Unilateral preferences 16 
 (4) I NVESTMENT AGREEMENTS AND ARRANGEMENTS  18 
 (5) A ID-FOR-TRADE  18 
III. TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE 20 
 (1) M EASURES DIRECTLY AFFECTING IMPORTS  20 
 (i) Customs procedures 20  (ii) Customs valuation 23 
 (iii) Rules of origin 23 
 (iv) Tariffs 24  (v) Other charges affecting imports 28 
 (vi) Contingency measures 29 
 (vii) Quantitative restrictions, controls, and licensing 34  (viii) Technical regulations and standards 35 
 (ix) Sanitary and phytosanitary measures 40 
 (2) M
EASURES DIRECTLY AFFECTING EXPORTS  46 
 (i) Customs procedures and documentation 46 
 (ii) Export taxes and fees 46 
 (iii) Prohibitions, restrictions and licensing 46  (iv) Export restrictions and controls 47 
 (v) Official support and related fiscal measures 51 
 (vi) Finance, insurance, and guarantees 51  (vii) Promotion and marketing assistance 53 
 (3) O
THER MEASURES AFFECTING INVESTMENT AND TRADE  53 
 (i) Business framework and foreign investment regime 53 
 (ii) State trading, state-owned enterprises, and privatization 57 
 (iii) Government procurement 58  (iv) Subsidies and other government assistance 63 
 (v) Trade related intellectual property rights 67 
 (vi) Competition policy 76 WT/TPR/S/235 Trade Policy Review 
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  Page 
IV. DEVELOPMENTS IN SELECTED SECTORS 80 
 (1) A GRICULTURE  80 
 (i) Agriculture in the United States 80  (ii) Agriculture policies 81 
 (iii) Agriculture tariffs and tariff quotas 90 
 (iv) Support levels 90 
 (2) F
INANCIAL SERVICES  94 
 (i) General legal framework 94 
 (ii) Recent developments 94  (iii) Policy actions in response to the crisis 95 
 (iv) Financial regulatory reform 97 
 (3) T
RANSPORT  97 
 (i) Air transport services 97 
 (ii) Maritime transport 101 
 (4) T ELECOMMUNICATIONS  105 
 (i) Market structure 105 
 (ii) GATS commitments 106 
 (iii) Regulatory and policy authority 106 
 (iv) International settlements policy 108 
 (v) Satellite services 109  (vi) Media ownership rules 109 
 (5) P
ROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS SERVICES  110 
 (i) Introduction 110  (ii) Accounting services 112 
 (iii) Legal services 114 
REFERENCES   117 APPENDIX TABLES  125 
 United States WT/TPR/S/235 
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CHARTS 
 Page 
 
I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT  
I.1 Contribution to real GDP growth, 2007-10 1 
I.2 Wealth, debt, and consumption, 1995-2009 3 I.3 Composition and level of the current account, 1995-2009 4 
I.4 Merchandise trade by product, 2006 and 2009 8 
I.5 Merchandise trade by main origin and destination, 2006 and 2009 9  
III. TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE 
 III.1 Tariff distribution according to the type of duty 26 
III.2 Tariff averages and dispersion by product groups, 2010 27 
III.3 Balance of Payments for roya lties and licence fees, 2000-09 70 
 
IV. DEVELOPMENT IN SELECTED SECTORS 
 
IV.1 Product-specific AMS support and market prices for selected commodities, 1995-2007 92 
IV.2 Waterborne trade in the United States, 2008 102 IV.3 Exports and imports of business, professional, and technical services, 1997-2008 111 
IV.4 Trade in accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping, 2006-2008 113 
IV.5 Trade in legal services, 2006-2008 114  
 
TABLES 
 
I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 
 I.1 Selected macroeconomi c indicators, 2004-10 2 
 
III. TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE  
III.1 Structure of the tariff schedule, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2009 25 
III.2 Anti-dumping investigations initiated, 2004-09 30 III.3 Anti-dumping measures by country and product, 2004-09 31 
III.4 Countervailing duty investigations and measures imposed, 2004-09 32 
III.5 Notifications by the United States, 1995-2010 41 
III.6 Ex-Im Bank credit and budget authorizations, 2004-09 52 
III.7 Overview of CFIUS reviews, 2006-09 56 III.8 Domestic preferences applied under the Buy American Act and the stimulus 
 package, March, 2010 62 
III.9 Federal programmes notified to the WTO, fiscal years 2005-08 64 III.10 Assistance for th e automobile industry 65 
III.11 Renewable and alternative fuel incentives, 2010 67 
III.12 Dispute Settlement cases involvin g the United State as at June 2010 68 
III.13 Summary of intellectual property protection in the United States corresponding to  
 TRIPS obligations, 2010 71 
III.14 Patent pendency months 73 WT/TPR/S/235 Trade Policy Review 
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 Page  
 
IV. DEVELOPMENT IN SELECTED SECTORS 
 IV.1 Value of production, 2007-09 80
 
IV.2 Production and exports of selected commodities, selected years 81 IV.3 Exports of sugar and sugar-containing products, 2005-09   83
 
IV.4 Farm Service Agency Direct Loans;  loan volumes at end of Fiscal Year 87 
IV.5 Farm loan programmes; interest rates (effective as of 1 February 2010) 88 
IV.6 Total producer support estimate and single commodity transfer values for 
 selected commodities 93 
IV.7 Exports and imports of financial and insurance services, 2008-10 95 
 
APPENDIX TABLES 
 
I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 
 
AI.1 Balance of payments, 2004-10 127 AI.2 Merchandise exports and re-exports by group of products, 2003-09 128 AI.3 Merchandise imports by group of products, 2003-09 130 
AI.4 Merchandise exports and re-exports by trading partner, 2003-09 132 
AI.5 Merchandise imports by trading partner, 2003-09 133 AI.6 Cross-border imports of services, 2004-08 134 
AI.7 Cross-border exports of services, 2004-08 135 
 II. TRADE AND INVESTMENT POLICY FRAMEWORK 
 
AII.1 Status of dispute-related WTO matters involving the United States,   December 2007-March 2010 136 
AII.2 Overview of U.S. Free-Trade Agreements, March 2010 139 
 
III. TRADE POLICIES AND PRACTICES BY MEASURE 
 
AIII.1 Trade concerns over U.S. TBTs, July 2007-March 2010 143 
AIII.2 Summary analysis of the MFN tariff, 2009 144 AIII.3 Tariffs according to pref erential agreements, 2009 145 
 
IV. TRADE POLICIES BY SECTOR  
AIV.1 Payment rates under the Farm Act of 2008 (Conversion factors) 146 
AIV.2 Direct payment rates in the 2002 and 2008 Farm Acts 146 AIV.3 Commodity loan rates, selected years 147 
AIV.4 Counter-cyclical payments ta rget prices, selected years 147 
 United States WT/TPR/S/235 
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OVERVIEW 
1. The U.S. trade and investment regimes 
are among the most open in the world, and have remained so throughout the period under 
review.  Like most other WTO Members, the 
United States very largely resisted pressures to respond to the global economic recession by tightening restrictions on imports.  The restraint shown by the United States helped 
forestall a worldwide slide into protectionism.  
2. Border measures such as tariffs and 
quantitative restrictions have remained broadly unchanged since the previous Review of the United States, illustrating the overall stability of its trade regime.  At 4.8%, the simple 
average applied MFN tariff is the same as in 
late 2007, when the recession started.  The United States abolished quotas on imports of several categories of textiles and apparel from China in December 2008.  Remaining 
quantitative restrictions and controls on 
imports are maintained to protect health, safety, or the environment, or for foreign policy purposes.  These restrictions include a new ban on imports of plants taken in violation of foreign la ws.  Export regulations, 
used for foreign policy and security reasons, 
have not changed, although a major review is currently under way. 
3. The limited changes made during the 
period under review to trade border measures 
related mostly to contingency measures.  In 
September 2009, the President made a determination under safeguard legislation to apply additional duties on tyre imports from China for three years.  This followed the U.S. 
International Trade Commission's 
determination that imports of passenger vehicle and light truck tyres from China were being imported "in such increased quantities or under such conditions as to cause market disruption to the domestic producers". 
4. Regarding other contingency 
measures, the United States had 246 anti-dumping duty (AD) orders in effect in December 2009, 22 more than in December 2007.  These affect imports from 40 countries or territories.  While AD investigation 
initiations in 2008-09 remained well below the peak of 2007, the share of investigations that result in final AD orders has increased since 
then.  A 2007 decision by the United States 
changed its long-standing policy of not applying countervailing duties (CVD) on China.  CVD investigation initiations almost tripled, on average, between 2004-06 and 
2007-09.  CVD final orders increased from 31 
in 2007 to 41 in December 2009. 
5. The overall stability and openness of 
the U.S. trade and investment regime during the period under review did not prevent a steep fall in U.S. trade.  Betw een the third quarter of 
2008 and the second quarter of 2009, imports 
of goods decreased almost 35%.  Imports of consumer durables and capital goods were particularly affected, as consumers delayed purchases of durables amid a sharp reduction 
in wealth resulting from the downturn in the 
housing and equity markets, and growing uncertainty in financial markets.  U.S. firms shelved investment plans in response to lower consumer demand and higher capital costs, reducing demand for capital good imports.  
Exports of goods also declined, albeit at a 
slower pace, reflecting the slowdown in global demand.  With imports falling more rapidly than exports, the U.S. current account deficit narrowed sharply, from a peak of 6% of GDP 
in 2006 to slightly less than 3% of GDP in 
2009. 
6. The Administration considers that a 
sustainable recovery from the recession will require some rebalancing of the economy 
towards increased investment and exports and 
away from household consumption as the main basis for economic growth.  Over the past two years, trade policy has focused on enhancing export promotion, along with monitoring and enforcement of trading 
partners' commitments under international 
agreements.  In his State of the Union Address in January 2010, the U.S. President set a goal of doubling exports over the next five years. 
7. As part of their efforts to rebalance the 
economy away from household consumption, WT/TPR/S/235 Trade Policy Review 
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the authorities are committed to increasing the 
national savings rate in part through a reduction in the fiscal deficit and improved financial regulation.  In addition, the 
authorities consider that a shift toward 
increased consumption in countries with current account surpluses could bring the U.S. current account deficit toward its mid 1990s level of roughly 1-2% of GDP. 
8. The Administration is using trade and 
investment policy in support of economic recovery and rebalancing.  Specifically, U.S. trade policy is seeking to encourage export growth by allocating additional resources to export promotion activities, and to monitoring 
and enforcing partners' trade commitments.  
These activities are part of a new National Export Initiative implemented to help achieve the goal of doubling exports in the next five years. 
9. There has been a marked slowdown in 
the pace of negotiating free-trade agreements (FTAs) by the United States during the review period.  FTAs with three countries became effective:  Costa Rica (part of the Dominican Republic-Central America FTA); Oman; and 
Peru.  The negotiations on these FTAs had 
been completed before the period under review.  The United States has FTAs in force with 17 countries.  The Administration has not yet submitted for Congressional consideration 
three FTAs signed before 2008 but still 
awaiting ratification. 
10. Some anti-recession measures 
included provisions that favoured domestic suppliers of goods and services.  These 
measures included sizeable assistance to 
selected sectors, particularly the financial and automotive sectors, with provisions to avoid "leakage" of assistance outside of the United States.  For example, in their loan agreements with the U.S. Treasury Department, two large 
domestic car manufacturers agreed to maintain 
specified levels of production in the United States.  These loans were part of an US$85 billion programme that sought to "prevent a significant disruption of the 
American automotive industry, which would pose a systemic risk to financial market 
stability and have a negative effect on the economy of the United States". 
11. Furthermore, domestic preferences 
were incorporated into the US$787 billion 
fiscal stimulus package of early 2009 to ensure that the manufacture of iron, steel, and manufactured goods used as construction materials in public projects funded with 
stimulus dollars is performed in the 
United States.  These domestic preferences, which must be applied in accordance with U.S. international commitments, are more restrictive than long-standing domestic preferences used in federal procurement under 
the Buy American Act of 1933. 
12. Aside from anti-recession policies, 
new measures affecting trade during the period under review involved certain measures to address security and safety concerns.  The 
United States also adopted new farm 
legislation. 
13. Among the measures to increase the 
safety of imports are new advance information requirements for cargo arriving in the United States by vessel under the so-called 
"10+2" rule.  Regarding the requirement to 
scan 100% of containers prior to loading them on U.S.-bound vessels, the Secretary of Homeland Security has indicated that this security initiative was currently unworkable at 
many ports, and that she would seek the 
extensions authorized by law to delay its implementation beyond 2012. 
14. In an effort to increase the safety of 
thousands of consumer  products, including all 
those for children aged 12 or less, the 
Consumer Product Safety  Improvement Act of 
2008 introduced a wide range of regulatory and enforcement measures for domestic and imported goods.  Among the measures are new product regulations, labelling and third-party 
testing requirements, and border controls. 
15. The 2008 Farm Act maintained, with 
some changes, most of the policies in the 2002 Act with some new programmes introduced United States WT/TPR/S/235 
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and some adjustment to payment rates.  Like 
previous Farm Acts, most of the support under the 2008 Farm Act is not for farming but for nutrition programmes for low-income families 
and a large portion of the funding that is for 
farmers is decoupled from production.  However, of the support that remains, most is linked to prices and/or production and producers of cereals, oilseeds, and cotton are 
effectively insulated from market prices while 
sugar and dairy have market price support 
programmes.  Overall, support for agriculture in the United States, as a percentage of the value of production, remains low compared with other OECD countries and some non-
OECD countries.  However, the large size of 
the agriculture sector means that the absolute amount of support is considerable, varies from one year to another depending on prices, and can affect world markets. 
16. To ensure that trade policy supports 
economic recovery an d rebalancing more effectively, the United States should maintain 
the emphasis on the contri bution that open and 
transparent trade and investment regimes can make to productivity, a key ingredient of 
export success.  Export promotion should be 
complemented by continued reduction in remaining restrictions on market access and other distorting measures, in line with Members' observations during the previous 
Review of the United States, including with 
respect to U.S. tariff peaks, support for agriculture, and remaining barriers to services trade and investment. 
17. Pursuing liberalization on an MFN 
basis could provide the United States with the 
added advantage of helping reduce the future 
risks of protectionist measures at home and abroad, and reaffirm the U.S. leadership role that has been a crucial element in advancing the objectives of the multilateral trading 
system since its inception.