Industrial Competitiveness

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The Administration's trade policy aims to advance and defend the interests of American manufacturers and their workers by expanding export opportunities and strengthening enforcement of trade rules. These are two of the core goals for our economic and trade policy.

USTR is working to level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers by:

  • Eliminating Tariff and Non-Tariff Barriers
  • Negotiating WTO Rules to Benefit U.S. Manufacturers
  • Countering Foreign Trade Distorting Practices
  • Enforcing Trade Agreements

The President's Trade Policy Agenda makes clear that American trade remedy laws have to be vigorously enforced to ensure fair trade for U.S. manufacturers and their workers at home, while USTR also presses vigorously for new export markets by challenging discriminatory practices, industrial policies, and non-tariff barriers overseas. USTR is pursuing these actions and others to provide real results for American manufacturing.

Related topics:

Enforcement
Free Trade Agreements
WTO Doha Negotiations

Did you know?

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The United States ran a trade surplus with nine of the 10 countries with which it has entered into free trade agreements (FTAs) in the past five years. The United States recorded a trade surplus in manufactured goods with all 14 countries with which it has implemented FTAs.

The U.S. trade balance for manufactured goods improved by $60 billion in 2008.

The largest export markets for U.S. goods in 2008 were Canada ($261.4 billion, up 5.0% from 2007), Mexico ($151.5 billion, up 11.4%), China ($71.5 billion, up 9.5%), Japan ($66.6 billion, up 6.2%), and Germany ($54.7 billion, up 10.2%).

Exports are playing a larger role in the U.S. economy than ever before. Exports comprised a record 13.1% of U.S. GDP in 2008, up from 9.5% of GDP five years earlier (2003), and 5.3% 40 years ago (1968).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.