The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has begun working on the sixth update of its report on the economic effects of "significant" U.S. import restraints, the agency said. This time around, U.S. trade-liberalization initiatives since 1934 will be a "special focus" of the report. Such efforts, ITC said, "have transformed the United States from a relatively closed market into one of the world's most open economies." The sixth update will continue to assess the impact of import restraints on U.S. consumers and business, the income and employment of U.S. workers, and the overall economic welfare of the U.S. The assessment will not cover import restraints resulting from antidumping or countervailing duty investigations, specifically those related to section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, or sections 406 and 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. The first report was requested by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in May of 1992. It is updated at approximately two-year intervals. ITC said it expects to submit the sixth update to USTR by August 20, 2009. In the meantime, it is seeking input from all interested parties, with a public hearing set for January 8, 2009. Written submissions are also welcome, the agency said.
U.S. International Trade Commission