USTR Issues 2021 Foreign Trade Barrier Report
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released the 2021 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, detailing foreign market access barriers faced by U.S. exporters. The 574-page report examines 65 U.S. trading partners and country groups, including any import policies, tariffs, customs, procedures and phytosanitary measures that are restricting U.S. goods.
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The report includes a lengthy section on China, which implements trade practices that “cause particular concern” for U.S. exporters, the USTR said. U.S. exporters continue to be damaged by Chinese retaliatory tariffs and face a range of non-tariff measures, including industrial policies that “seek to limit market access” for foreign goods. The USTR said the so-called “Made in China 2025” plan is one of China’s “more far-reaching and harmful industrial plans” and seeks to replace U.S. technologies in global markets.
The USTR also said U.S. exporters continue to face “persistent barriers” while shipping to the European Union, including high tariffs on seafood, certain agricultural products and some vehicles. Differing customs procedures across member states also make it difficult for the EU to ensure its rules are “applied uniformly,” the USTR said, adding that it continues to monitor EU efforts to implement a harmonized customs data system across the bloc.
Canada and Mexico also continue to present their share of trade barriers, although the USTR said the USMCA has helped to address “several longstanding trade-related irritants” in Canada. The agreement has also expanded Mexican market access for U.S. dairy and poultry exporters and established “some of the strongest and most advanced” intellectual property rights provisions. The USTR called the deal a “mutually beneficial win” for North American trade and it “includes a number of ground-breaking provisions to combat nonmarket practices that have the potential to disadvantage U.S. workers and businesses.”
Among the concerns for exporters shipping to Russia are the country’s burdensome regulations for imports of “mass market” electronics, the USTR said. The agency said Russia’s definition of mass market products doesn’t align with the definition outlined by the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control group for dual-use goods. “Russian requirements to meet the definition of mass market are burdensome and appear to go beyond what is required under the [Eurasian Economic Union] regulations,” the report said. The USTR said this has caused U.S. exports of encryption products to “continue to be impeded.”