USTR lists foreign trade barriers and promises to take action.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued its latest annual compilation of foreign barriers to trade and investment, reporting that the Bush administration has in place an "aggressive and proactive agenda" for breaking down those barriers to ensure continued economic growth and prosperity.

The 712-page report--National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report on Foreign Trade Barriers--looks at remaining barriers to trade and investment with 62 U.S. trading partners around the world. USTR officials said that the administration has made some headway over the past year in reducing or eliminating those restrictions. But the report drew attention to the fact that some major problems remain with China, including the country's inadequate enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, unfair government subsidies to industries and other industrial policies that act to promote Chinese content over imports in manufacturing and services. The chapter on China amounts to 71 of the 712 pages.

After China, the longest lists of barriers appear in the chapters on the European Union (EU), Japan and South Korea. The U.S. and Korea are preparing to negotiate a free-trade agreement. The USTR report, 2006 NTE Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, is located on the agency's web site at www.ustr.gov.