   
  
WT/L/1175  
 
7 Novembe r 2023  
(23-7514) Page: 1/3 
General Council  
14-15 December 2023  Original: English  
 
UNITED STATES – FORMER TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS  
REPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEAR  2022 
UNDER THE DECISION OF 7 DECEMBER  20161 
The following communication, dated 27 October  2023, 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 2022, 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.  With the entry into force in 1986 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 Fede rated States of 
Micronesia, and in 1994 of the Compact of Free Association Between the United States and the 
Republic of Palau, the Trusteeship Agreement for the Territory of the Pacific Islands with respect to 
 
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 ("Compacts") 
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 Republic 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 Palau 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/1175  
 
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  these islands, established on 2  April 1947, w as terminated. US law provides for the continuation of 
the preferential trade treatment to the islands under the Trusteeship. These preferences are similar 
to historical preferences the United States provides to the US  Virgin Islands, Guam, and American 
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 beneficiaries 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 treat ment 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 subject 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 to gether, 
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 2022 totalled about 
US$21.8  million.  
3.2.  From 2021 to 2022, total US imports from t he former TTPI increased by about 16.7 per cent, 
from approximately US$18.7 million to approximately US$21.8 million. During the past year, imports 
from the Republic of the Marshall Islands rose from US$15.4 million in 2021 to US$17.0 million in 
2022, or 1 0.9 per cent, while US  imports from the Republic of Palau increased by 35.6 per cent from 
US$548 thousand to US$743 thousand over the same period of time.  Imports from the Federated 
States of Micronesia decreased by approximately 9.8 per cent from about U S$2.4 million in 2021 to 
about US$2.2 million in 2022. Imports from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 
increased by 371 per cent, from US$402,000 in 2021 to about US$1.9 million in 2022.  
3.3.  The Republic of the Marshall Islands was the largest ex porter, responsible for approximately 
78 per cent of total exports to the United States from the former TTPI in 2022. The Federated States 
of Micronesia was the next largest exporter in 2022, followed by the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands and  the Republic of Palau. The following table provides summary information on 
US imports from the former TTPI for 2008 -2022.  
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  WT/L/1175  
 
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TABLE 1  
US IMPORTS FOR CONSUMPTION FROM THE FORMER TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS, BY SOURCES, 200 8-2022 
Source  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 
 (1,000 d (1,000 dollars ) 
Republic of the Marshall 
Islands  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  15,358  17,025  
Federa ted States of 
Micronesia  3,552  2,918  4,218  1,602  904 1,787  412 713 536 921 854 1,558  2,768  2,400  2,164  
Republic of Palau  1,138  80 148 210 455 350 555 545 1,067  574 1,306  1,474  458 548 743 
Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana 
Islands  105,299  5,959  1,163  627 1,581  923 900 1,804  1,545  2,672  2,428  1,031  2,691  402 1,894  
Total  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  18,708  21,825  
 
 
 
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