This Act offers preferential market duty and quota free access to the U.S. market for eligible countries, which will help them to compete globally. But the initiative goes beyond market access, also offering broad economic and technical assistance to promote development in these regions. Initiatives such as this demonstrate U.S. resolve to grant enhanced market access to facilitate developing countries' integration into the global economy. The WTO negotiations on agriculture are moving forward as well. Last week, the U.S. tabled a proposal for eliminating tariffs and reforming subsidies in the agricultural sector.
Members have until the end of the year to submit negotiating proposals.
Anti-dumping and countervailing duty policy has been the subject of much criticism by WTO members recently. The U.S. understands the concerns, but when used correctly, in a legal and transparent manner, anti-dumping can be an important policy tool that makes the trading system more fair and free. Anti-dumping is used by many countries, among both developed and developing economies, as a policy tool. As you can see, it affects only a small percent of total trade, but still has an important role to play. By reassuring the fairness of the trading system, countries can maintain support for increased trade liberalization, which benefits us all.