World Trade Organization:
Standard of Review and Impact of Trade Remedy Rulings
GAO-03-824: Published: Jul 30, 2003. Publicly Released: Jul 30, 2003.
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World Trade Organization (WTO) members rely on trade remedies in the form of duties or other import restrictions to protect their industries from injury due to unfair foreign trade practices or unexpected import surges. There is congressional concern that the WTO, created in 1995 to administer trade rules, is interfering with this ability. There is also congressional concern that the WTO is not treating the United States fairly in resolving trade remedy disputes. A congressional requester asked GAO to identify trends in WTO trade remedy disputes since 1995, including the outcomes of these disputes and how they affected members' ability to impose trade remedies. The requester also asked GAO to discuss the standards of review that the WTO applies when ruling on trade remedy disputes and to present U.S. agencies' and legal experts' views on the WTO's application of these standards and related trade remedy issues. In their comments on a draft of this report, the Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission stated that the report needed to put more emphasis on U.S. agencies' concerns about the potential adverse impact of WTO rulings on the U.S.'s use of trade remedies. The U.S. Trade Representative provided only technical comments on the report. GAO modified the report as appropriate.
About a third of the cases filed in the WTO dispute settlement system from 1995 through 2002 challenged members' trade remedies, with the ratio of such cases increasing over time. Although a relatively small proportion of WTO members' trade remedy measures were challenged in the WTO, the United States faced substantially more challenges than other WTO members. The WTO generally rejected members' decisions to impose trade remedies in the 25 trade remedy disputes resolved from 1995 through 2002. However, GAO found that the WTO ruled for and against the U.S. and other members in roughly the same ratios. Overall, WTO rulings resulted in few changes to members' laws, regulations, and practices but had a relatively greater impact on those of the United States. While U.S. agencies stated that WTO rulings have not yet significantly impaired their ability to impose trade remedies, they had concerns about the potential future adverse impact of WTO rulings. Of the legal experts GAO consulted, a majority concluded that the WTO has properly applied standards of review and correctly ruled on major trade remedy issues. However, a significant minority strongly disagreed with these conclusions. U.S. agencies also said that the WTO has not always properly applied the standards and has, in some cases, imposed obligations on members that are not found in WTO agreements. Nonetheless, the experts almost unanimously agreed that the WTO was not treating the United States any differently than other members.
Dec 9, 2020
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International Trade:
Observations On Whether Women's Rights and Economic Interests Are Protected or Promoted by U.S. Trade Preference ProgramsGAO-21-190: Published: Dec 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 9, 2020.
Dec 2, 2020
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Foreign Assistance:
USAID Should Analyze Data on the Timeliness of ExpendituresGAO-21-51: Published: Dec 2, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 2, 2020.
Nov 19, 2020
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Global Food Security:
Information on Spending and Types of Assistance Provided by the United States and Other DonorsGAO-21-47R: Published: Nov 19, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 19, 2020.
Nov 9, 2020
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Human Trafficking:
Agencies Have Taken Steps to Strengthen International Anti-trafficking ProjectsGAO-21-53: Published: Nov 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 9, 2020. -
Rule of Law Assistance:
State and USAID Could Improve Monitoring EffortsGAO-21-14: Published: Nov 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 9, 2020.
Oct 27, 2020
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Forced Labor Imports:
DHS Increased Resources and Enforcement Efforts, but Needs to Improve Workforce Planning and MonitoringGAO-21-106: Published: Oct 27, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 27, 2020.
Oct 2, 2020
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Combating Wildlife Trafficking:
Agencies Work to Address Human Rights Abuse Allegations in Overseas Conservation ProgramsGAO-21-139R: Published: Oct 2, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 2, 2020.
Sep 22, 2020
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Cyber Diplomacy:
State Has Not Involved Relevant Federal Agencies in the Development of Its Plan to Establish the Cyberspace Security and Emerging Technologies BureauGAO-20-607R: Published: Sep 22, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 22, 2020.
Sep 15, 2020
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Steel and Aluminum Tariffs:
Commerce Should Improve Its Exclusion Request Process and Economic Impact ReviewsGAO-20-517: Published: Sep 15, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 15, 2020.
Sep 14, 2020
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Conflict Minerals:
Actions Needed to Assess Progress Addressing Armed Groups' Exploitation of MineralsGAO-20-595: Published: Sep 14, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 14, 2020.
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