International Trade: Revitalizing the U.S. Machine Tool Industry
NSIAD-90-182
Published: Jul 17, 1990. Publicly Released: Jul 17, 1990.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the President's plan for revitalizing the U.S. machine tool industry and evaluated voluntary export restraint agreements with Japan and Taiwan, focusing on: (1) Departments of Commerce and Defense implementation of the President's plan; (2) Commerce's program to monitor and ensure compliance with export restraints; and (3) the impact of voluntary export limits on the domestic machine tool industry.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Commerce | The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Office of Agreements Compliance to strengthen its monitoring system by establishing written policies and procedures to document how it monitors Japan's and Taiwan's compliance with the agreements, changes in other countries' import penetration, and the U.S. share of each restricted market. |
Closed – Implemented
Commerce reports that it has developed detailed written policies and procedures. GAO has requested a copy.
|
| Other | The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Office of Agreements Compliance to strengthen its monitoring system by establishing written policies and procedures to document how it monitors Japan's and Taiwan's compliance with the agreements, changes in other countries' import penetration, and the U.S. share of each restricted market. |
Closed – Implemented
The agency reports that it has developed detailed written policies and procedures. GAO has requested a copy.
|
| Department of Commerce | The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Office of Agreements Compliance to strengthen its monitoring system by establishing criteria for evaluating the changes in import penetration by other countries. |
Closed – Implemented
Commerce claims that it has criteria for these evaluations.
|
| Department of Commerce | The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Office of Agreements Compliance to strengthen its monitoring system by recording its adjustments to the Customs Service's documents and Census Bureau data in a format that indicates why adjustments were made and routinely informing Customs and the Bureau of the errors found. |
Closed – Implemented
Commerce claims that it now records adjustments and reports them to the Customs Service and Bureau of Census.
|
| Department of Commerce | The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Office of Agreements Compliance to strengthen its monitoring system by adopting more timely methods to monitor Japan's and Taiwan's quota compliance. |
Closed – Implemented
Commerce stated that it uses the most accurate and timely data.
|
| Department of Commerce | The Secretary of Commerce should direct the Office of Agreements Compliance to strengthen its monitoring system by using the more accurate data and timely methods available to measure other countries' import penetration of the restricted machine tool markets. |
Closed – Implemented
Commerce stated that it uses the most accurate and timely data.
|
| Department of Commerce | The U.S. Trade Representative and the Secretary of Commerce should establish criteria and guidelines for contacting the governments of countries that increase their import penetration of the domestic machine tool markets before their penetration levels can prove harmful. |
Closed – Implemented
Commerce reported that it would seek interagency advice when the need arose in the future.
|
| Other | The U.S. Trade Representative and the Secretary of Commerce should establish criteria and guidelines for contacting the governments of countries that increase their import penetration of the domestic machine tool markets before their penetration levels can prove harmful. |
Closed – Implemented
The agency reported that it would seek interagency advice when the need arose in the future.
|
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Topics
Business assistanceCompetitionDefense industryExport regulationForeign trade agreementsImport restrictionInternal controlsInternational trade restrictionManufacturing industryCensus