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1998 Country Reports Economic Policy and Trade Practices

Introduction | Text of Section 202 | Notes on Preparation of the Reports | Frequently Used Acronyms

1998 Country Reports

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 10th 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 U.S. exports.

• Structural Policies: The third section examines structural policies, highlighting changes that may affect U.S. exports to that country.

• Debt Management Policies: The fourth section describes debt management policies and their implications for trade with the U.S.

• Significant Barriers to U.S. Exports and Investment: The fifth section examines significant barriers, formal and informal, to U.S. 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 U.S. 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 goods-producing sectors where U.S. 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));

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."

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

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 1999, submitted to the Committees on International Relations of the House of Representatives and on Foreign Relations of the U.S. Senate in January 1999. For a comprehensive and authoritative discussion of worker rights in each country, please refer to that report.

Subsection "f" highlights conditions of worker rights in goods-producing 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 1997 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. Export- Import
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	Inter-American Development Bank
IPR	intellectual property rights
LIBOR	London Interbank Offer Rate
MFN	most favored nation
NAFTA	North American Free Trade Agreement
NGOs	non-government 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	pecial Drawing Rights (of the IMF)
STF	Structural Transformation Facility
TRIPs	WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
UR	Uruguay Round of trade negotiations in the GATT
USD	U.S. Dollar
VAT	value-added tax
WIPO	World Intellectual Property Organization
WTO	World Trade Organization

Geographic Directory:

Africa
East Asia and the Pacific
Europe
Western Hemisphere
Near East
South Asia

[end of document]

Country Reports Index | Economic and Trade Policy
Department of State

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