International Monetary Fund: Trade Policies of IMF Borrowers

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the International Monetary Fund (IMF), focusing on the: (1) extent to which IMF borrower countries restrict international trade and the borrowers whose trade has the potential to affect the United States; (2) reported trade barriers and export policies of four IMF borrowers that are among those with the greatest capacity to affect the United States--Brazil, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand--and recent actions reported to have been taken to reduce those barriers or modify policies; (3) actions, in the context of their recent IMF financing arrangements, the four countries have taken or are committed to take to liberalize their trading systems; and (4) extent to which the impact of the four countries' export policies on the United States can be predicted and measured and which U.S. industry sectors might be affected by recent changes in trade from these countries.