   
  
WT/L/1155  
 
1 November  2022 
(22-8186) Page: 1/3 
General Council  
19-20 December 2022  Original: English  
 
 
UNITED STATES – FORMER TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS  
REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEAR  2021 
UNDER THE DECISION OF 7 DECEMBER  20161 
The following communication, dated 17 October  2022, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the United States.  
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  On 7  December  2016, the United States was granted a renewal of the waiver2 from its 
obligations under paragraph 1 of Article I of the GATT  1994 to the extent necessary to permit the 
United  States Government to provide preferential treatment for eligible imports into the United 
States from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic 
of Palau, three sepa rate sovereign  countries, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, an insular territory of the United States,  all formerly part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific 
Islands (TTPI).3 This waiver expires  31 December  2026.  
1.2.  Under the terms of th is waiver, the United States is required to submit to the General Council 
an annual report on the implementation of the trade -related provisions of the programme with a 
view to facilitating the annual review provided for in paragraph 4 of Article IX of the  Agreement 
establishing the WTO.4 This report covers the calendar year 2021, the most recent year for which 
full-year data is available.  
2  PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR THE FORMER TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC 
ISLANDS  
2.1.  In 1986, the entry into force of the Covenant establishing the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, the Compacts of Free Association Between the United States and the Republic of 
the Marshall Islands, and Between the United States and the Federate d States of Micronesia, and, 
in 1994, of the Compact of Free Association Between the United States and the Republic of Palau, 
terminated the applicability of the Trusteeship Agreement for the Territory of the Pacific Islands, 
 
1 WT/L/1000.  
2 WT/L/183.  
3 These four entities formerly comprised the three geographic island groups known as the Marshall, 
Caroline, and Mariana Islands, which are located in the western Pacific Ocean region and known as the 
Micronesian region.  During 1986, the Covenant establishing the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 
("CNMI ") ("Covenant "), an insular area of the United States, and Compacts of Free Association ( "Compa cts") 
with the United States for the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Federated States of Micronesia 
(FSM) came into effect. With the entry into force of the Covenant with CNMI and the Compacts with the RMI and 
FSM, and the agreement of the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations, the UN Security Council determined 
that the applicability of the Trusteeship Agreement with respect to the RMI and FSM had terminated. In 1994, 
the Compact of Free Association with the United States for the Republ ic of Palau came into effect. With the entry 
into force of the Compact with Palau and the agreement of the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations, the UN 
Security Council determined that the applicability of the Trusteeship Agreement with respect to Pal au had been 
terminated.  
4 Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO), consulted at: 
https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/04 -wto_e.htm . WT/L/1155  
 
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  established on 2  April 1947, w ith respect to these islands. US law provides for the continuation of 
the preferential trade treatment to the islands under the TTPI. These preferences are similar to 
historical preferences the United States provides to the US  Virgin Islands, Guam, and Ame rican 
Samoa, which were US possessions on 1  July 1939, and which are included in Annex D to Article I 
of the GATT  1994. The primary purpose of this preference system has been to promote the 
expansion of trade and the economic development of the beneficiari es in a manner consistent with 
the objectives of the GATT and with the trade, financial, and development needs of the beneficiary 
countries and territories.  
2.2.  Under General Notes 3(a)(iv) and 10 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, 
duty-free treatment is accorded to all products of the former TTPI, with some exceptions. Certain 
fishery products are subject to quantity limitations, while watches and watch movements, and 
buttons, certain textile, apparel, footwear and luggage products are sub ject to duty in some or all 
of the former TTPI. Duty -free treatment is only accorded to the in -quota quantity of the agricultural 
products subject to a tariff -rate quota.  
3  PERFORMANCE  
3.1.  A very small volume of production and trade is involved in this program. Taken together, 
US imports from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of 
Micronesia, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 2021 totalled about 
US$19  million.  
3.2.  From 2020 to 2021, total US imports from the former TTPI decreased by about 44.5 per  cent, 
from approximately US$33.7 million to approximately US$18.7 million. During the past year, imports 
from the Republic of the Marshall Islands dropped from US$27.8 million 2020 to US$15.3 million in 
2021, or 44.8 per  cent, while US  imports from the Republic of Palau increased by 19.6 per  cent from 
US$458 thousand to US$548 thousand over the same period of time.  Imports from the Federal 
States of Micronesia decreased by approximately 13.2 per  cent from ab out US$2.8 million in 2020 
to about US$2.4 million in 2021. Imports from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 
decreased by 85 per  cent, from US$2.7 million in 2020 to about US$400 thousand in 2021.  
3.3.  The Republic of the Marshall Islands was the l argest exporter, responsible for approximately 
82 per cent of total exports to the United States from the former TTPI in 2021. The Federal States 
of Micronesia was the next largest exporter in 2021, followed by the Republic of Palau and the 
Commonwealth of  the Northern Mariana Islands. The following table provides summary information 
on US  imports from the former TTPI for 2007 -2021.  
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  WT/L/1155  
 
- 3 - TABLE 1  
US IMPORTS FOR CONSUMPTION FROM THE FORMER TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS, BY SOURCES, 200 7-2021 
Source  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 
 (1,000 d (1,000 dollars ) 
Republic of the Marshall 
Islands  13,138  20,219  13,650  11,820  14,939  18,947  16,966  14,481  29,067  39,347  35,364  20,961  10,524  27,825  15,359  
Federal States of 
Micronesia  4,069  3,552  2,918  4,218  1,602  904 1,787  412 713 536 921 854 1,558  2,768  2,401  
Republic of Palau  386 1,138  80 148 210 455 350 555 545 1,067  574 1,306  1,474  458 548 
Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana 
Islands  319,171  105,299  5,959  1,163  627 1,581  923 900 1,804  1,545  2,672  2,428  1,031  2,691  402 
Total  336,764  130,209  22,607  17,349  17,378  21,887  20,025  16,348  32,129  42,494  39,530  25,549  14,586  33,743  18,710  
 
 
 
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