The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released prior to January 20, 2001.  Please see www.state.gov for material released since President George W. Bush took office on that date.  This site is not updated so external links may no longer function.  Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.

1996 Country Reports On Economic Policy and Trade Practices

Introduction

The Department of State is submitting to the Congress its Country Reports on Economic Policy and Trade Practices in compliance with Section 2202 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. As the legislation requires, we have prepared detailed reports on the economic policy and trade practices of countries with which the United States has significant economic or trade relationships. This is the Department of State's ninth annual report. It now includes reports on 77 countries, customs territories and customs unions.

Each report contains nine sections.

• Key Economic Indicators: Each report begins with a table showing data for key economic indicators in the national income, monetary, and trade accounts.
• General Policy Framework: This first narrative section gives an overview of macroeconomic trends.
• Exchange Rate Policies: The second section describes exchange rate policies and their impact on the price competitiveness of US exports.
• Structural Policies: The third section examines structural policies, highlighting changes that may affect US exports to that country.
• Debt Management Policies: The fourth section describes debt management policies and their implications for trade with the United States.
• Significant Barriers to US Exports and Investment: The fifth section examines significant barriers, formal and informal, to US exports and investment.
• Export Subsidies Policies: The sixth section focuses on government actions, policies, and practices that support exports from that country, including exports by small businesses.
• Protection of US Intellectual Property: The seventh section discusses the country's laws and practices with respect to protection of intellectual property rights.
• Worker Rights: The final section has three parts.

The first (subsections a through e) outlines the country's laws and practices with respect to internationally recognized worker rights.

The second (subsection f) highlights conditions of worker rights in goods­producing sectors where US capital is invested.

Finally, a table cites the extent of such investment by sector where information is available.

The country reports are based on information supplied by U.S. Embassies, which is analyzed and reviewed by the Department of State in consultation with other U.S. Government agencies. The reports are intended to serve as general guides to economic conditions in specific countries. We have worked to standardize the reports, but there are unavoidable differences reflecting large variations in data availability. In some cases, access to reliable data is limited, particularly in countries making transitions to market economies. Nonetheless, each report incorporates the best information currently available.

Alan P. Larson
Assistant Secretary of State
for Economic and Business Affairs

Text Of Section 2202 Of The Omnibus Trade And Competitiveness Act Of 1988

"The Secretary of State shall, not later than January 31 of each year, prepare and transmit to the Committee on [International Relations]* and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, and to other appropriate committees of the Congress, a detailed report regarding the economic policy and trade practices of each country with which the United States has an economic or trade relationship. The Secretary may direct the appropriate officers of the Department of State who are serving overseas, in consultation with appropriate officers or employees of other departments and agencies of the United States, including the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Commerce, to coordinate the preparation of such information in a country as is necessary to prepare the report under this section. The report shall identify and describe, with respect to each country:

1. The macroeconomic policies of the country and their impact on the overall growth in demand for United States exports;

2. The impact of macroeconomic and other policies on the exchange rate of the country and the resulting impact on price competitiveness of United States exports;

3. Any change in structural policies [including tax incentives, regulation governing financial institutions, production standards, and patterns of industrial ownership] that may affect the country's growth rate and its demand for United States exports;

4. The management of the country's external debt and its implications for trade with the United States;

5. Acts, policies, and practices that constitute significant trade barriers to United States exports or foreign direct investment in that country by United States persons, as identified under section 181(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2241(a)(1));

* In 1995, the Committee on Foreign Affairs changed its name to the Committee on International Relations.

6. Acts, policies, and practices that provide direct or indirect government support for exports from that country, including exports by small businesses;

7. The extent to which the country's laws and enforcement of those laws afford adequate protection to United States intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and mask works; and

8. The country's laws, enforcement of those laws, and practices with respect to internationally recognized worker rights (as defined in section 502(a)(4) of the Trade Act of 1974), the conditions of worker rights in any sector which produces goods in which United States capital is invested, and the extent of such investment."

Notes on Preparation of the Reports

Subsections a. through e. of the Worker Rights section (section 8) are abridged versions of section 6 in the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1997, submitted to the Committees on International Relations of the House of Representatives and on Foreign Relations of the U.S. Senate in January 1997. For a comprehensive and authoritative discussion of worker rights in each country please refer to that report.

Subsection f. of the Worker Rights section highlights conditions of worker rights in goods­producing sectors where U.S. capital is invested. A table cites the extent of such investment by sector where information is available. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce has supplied information on the U.S. direct investment position at the end of 1995 for all countries for which foreign direct investment has been reported to it. Readers should note that "U.S. Direct Position Abroad" is defined as "the net book value of U.S. parent companies' equity in, and net outstanding loans to, their foreign affiliates" (foreign business enterprises owned 10 percent or more by U.S. persons or companies). Where a figure is negative, the U.S. parent owes money to the affiliate. The table does not necessarily indicate total assets held in each country. In some instances, the narrative refers to investments for which figures may not appear in the table.

Some Frequently Used Acronyms

ADB ­ Asian Development Bank

BIS ­ Bank for International Settlements

CACM ­ Central American Common Market

CARICOM ­ Caribbean Common Market

CAP ­ Common Agricultural Policy (of the EU)

CCC ­ Commodity Credit Corporation (Department of Agriculture)

EBRD ­ European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

EFTA ­ European Free Trade Association

EMS ­ European Monetary System (of the EU)

ERM ­ Exchange Rate Mechanism (of the EU)

ESAF ­ Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility

EU ­ European Union

EXIMBANK ­ U.S. Export­Import Bank

FOREX ­ foreign exchange

FY ­ fiscal year

GATS ­ General Agreement on Trade in Services

GATT ­ General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

GDP ­ gross domestic product

GNP ­ gross national product

GSP ­ Generalized System of Preferences

IBRD ­ International Bank for Reconstruction

and Development (World Bank)

IFIs ­ international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank

and regional development banks)

ILO ­ International Labor Organization (of the United Nations)

IMF ­ International Monetary Fund

IDB ­ Inter­American Development Bank

IPR ­ intellectual property rights

LIBOR ­ London Interbank Offer Rate

MFN ­ most favored nation

NAFTA ­ North American Free Trade Agreement

NGOs ­ non­government organizations

NIS ­ Newly Independent States (of the former Soviet Union)

OECD ­ Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

OPIC ­ U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation

PTT ­ Post, Telegraph and Telephone

SAP ­ Structural Adjustment Program (of the IMF/World Bank)

SDR ­ Special Drawing Rights (of the IMF)

STF ­ Structural Transformation Facility

TRIPs ­ WTO Agreement on Trade­Related Aspects of Intellectual

Property Rights

UR ­ Uruguay Round of trade negotiations in the GATT

USD ­ U.S. dollar

VAT ­ value­added tax

WIPO ­ World Intellectual Property Organization

WTO ­ World Trade Organization

1996 Country Reports on Economic Policy and Trade Practices

Geographic Regions Directory:

Africa
East Asia and the Pacific
Europe and Canada
Latin America and the Caribbean
Middle East and North Africa
New Independent States and Russia
South Asia

[end of document]

Return to the DOSFAN Home Page
This is an official U.S. Government source for information on the WWW. Inclusion of non-U.S. Government links does not imply endorsement of contents.