This year's report also examines developments in several important regional forums the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum --- and includes a summary of recent U.S.-Africa trade initiatives.

ITC's The Year in Trade is one of the government's most comprehensive reviews of U.S. trade-related activities, covering major multilateral, regional, and bilateral developments. The 1997 edition also covers:

• global economic conditions and U.S. trade with major trading partners during 1997;

• significant activities in the WTO, including its dispute settlement mechanism, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development;

• bilateral trade issues with major U.S. trading partners, such as those with Canada on dairy pricing; with the European Union on the mutual recognition of conformity assessment procedures and the Helms-Burton Act; with Japan on airport transport services and harbor services; with Mexico on sweeteners and apples; with China on WTO accession and intellectual property protection; with Taiwan on insurance and WTO accession; and with Korea on telecommunications and automobiles;

• the operation of such programs as the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences, the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, the Andean Trade Preference Act, and the U.S. textile and apparel trade program; and,

• major U.S. trade sanctions activities involving Cuba, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), Iran, Iraq, and Libya.

Published annually, The Year in Trade includes complete listings of antidumping, countervailing duty, intellectual property right infringement, and section 301 cases undertaken by the U.S. government in 1997. Statistical tables highlight U.S. bilateral trade with major trading partners.

The Year in Trade 1997(USITC Publication 3103, May 1998) will be available on the ITC's Internet server at www.usitc.gov. The report also is expected to be available at federal depository libraries in the United States and at offices of the U.S. Information Agency abroad. A printed copy may be requested by calling 202-205-1809 or by writing to the Secretary, U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20436. Requests also may be faxed to 202-205-2104.