Measuring the link between trade and environment on North American fisheries and concerns about trade diversion and other issues arising from preferential trade agreements are the topics covered in the current issue of the International Economic Review (IER), a publication of the U.S. International Trade Commission's Office of Economics.

The IER is produced as part of the ITC's international trade monitoring program. The program's purpose is to keep the Commission informed about significant developments in international economics and trade and to maintain the Commission's readiness to provide technical information and advice to policymakers in the Congress and the executive branch. The opinions and conclusions of the IER are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission or any individual Commissioner. The current issue (May/June 2001) includes the following articles:

• Measuring the Link Between Trade and Environment: An Application to North American Fisheries -- Using a method designed to provide an upper bound for measuring the effects on production and environmental indicators from trade liberalization for North American fisheries, the authors' final results imply that such effects are negligible.

• Preferential Trade Agreements: Trade Diversion and Other Worries -- Do preferential trade agreements hinder or help the effort to liberalize trade? This issue is hotly debated. There is, however, broad agreement among economists on four closely related issues: First, preferential agreements create losses by diverting trade away from the most efficient producers. Second, whereas these losses are typically small, we can find cases where they appear to be important. Third, such losses could become a major problem if the world becomes divided into a small number of competing trade blocks. Fourth, a world of overlapping preferential trade agreements requires a complex set of rules to govern trade, and such complex rules are sand in the wheels of international commerce.

In addition, the publication reviews U.S. economic performance relative to other major trade partners, U.S. trade performance, and economic forecasts. Comparative economic indicators for major industrialized countries are also provided. An annual IER chartbook depicting trends in U.S. trade with major trading partners and regions is also included in the IER series.

The current issue of the IER (USITC Publication 3435, May/June 2001) will be available on the ITC's Internet site at www.usitc.gov. To request a printed copy, write to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, D.C. 20436, or fax requests to 202-205-2104.

To be added to the mailing list for the publication, write to the Office of Economics, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street SW, Washington, D.C. 20436, or fax requests to 202-205-2340.