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PRESS/TPRB/226 
16 January 2004 
 
(04-0071) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: UNITED STATES 
A largely open economy but barrie rs persist in important areas 
The United States has overcome several shocks since its last Trade Policy Review in 2001, helped 
by the contribution of its open and transparent tr ade regime to the highly efficient U.S. economy, 
according to a report on the trade policies and practices of the United States released 16 January 
by the WTO Secretariat.  Recent U.S. macroeconomic policy has been directed, increasingly successfully, towards recovering and sustaining gr owth, with benefits to the global economy, 
including through trade transmission. But barriers to market access persist in a few, however 
important, areas:  in particular, assistance to selected activities such as agriculture, steel, and textiles and clothing has burdened U. S. consumers, taxpayers and trade. 
 
The report notes that during this period, the United States has taken further steps to liberalize its trade regime on MFN (Most Favoured Nation) as well as preferential bases.  While acknowledging 
that the expanding U.S. preferential network could help draw partners into the multilateral system, 
the report emphasizes that care should be taken to avoid distracting resources away from it and that vested interests are not created that complicate multilateral negotiations.  The report also 
discusses the new security considerations in the aftermath of the September 2001 attacks, and 
stresses that the new U.S. security-related policies and practices should not become unnecessary trade or investment barriers. 
 
The report also expresses some concern about the "twin deficits" and goes on to note that the presently perceived large bilateral trade imbalances that are now part of the U.S. current account 
situation could give rise to protectionist sentiment. 
  The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of the United States, will be the 
basis for the seventh Trade Policy Review (TPR) of the United States by the Trade Policy Review 
Body of the WTO on 14 and 16 January 2004.  
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp226e.htm  
 
• Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  > Economic environment  PRESS/TPRB/226 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
> Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  > Appendix tables  
• Government report  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents 
are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 
Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews   
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly 
Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States  
Next reviews: 
Gambia : 4 and 6 of February 2004 
Sri Lanka : 3 and 5 of March 2004 
Rwanda : 10 and 12 May 2004 
 For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews  
 
END 