U.S. ProfileU.S. foreign trade and global economic policies have changed direction dramatically during the more than two centuries that the United States has been a country. In the early days of the nation's history, government and business mostly concentrated on developing the domestic economy irrespective of what went on abroad. But since the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II, the country generally has sought to reduce trade barriers and coordinate the world economic system. Americans are convinced that trade promotes economic growth, social stability, and democracy in individual countries and that it advances world prosperity, the rule of law, and peace in international relations.
Over the past decade, U.S. exports accounted for about a quarter of the economic growth. The exports support about 12 million jobs - jobs that pay wages 13 to 18 % higher than the U.S. average because they have higher productivity. One in three acres on American farms - accounting for over $56 billion in annual sales - is planted for export.
The United States supported trade liberalization and was instrumental in the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), an international code of tariff and trade rules. One other principle the United States traditionally has followed in the trade arena is multilateralism. Despite its commitment to multilateralism, the United States in recent years also has pursued regional and bilateral trade agreements. The emergence of electronic commerce also is opening a whole new set of trade issues. In 1998, ministers of the World Trade Organization issued a declaration that countries should not interfere with electronic commerce by imposing duties on electronic transmissions, but many issues remain unresolved. The United States would like to make the Internet a tariff-free zone, ensure competitive telecommunications markets around the world, and establish global protections for intellectual property in digital products.
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- Export-Import Bank of the United States (Exim)
- Millennium Challenge Corp (MCC)
- Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)
- Organization of American States - Trade Unit
- Trade and Economics - IIP
- U.S. Department of Commerece
- U.S. Department of Commerce. Export Portal
- U.S. Department of Commerce. International Trade Administration (ITA)
- U.S. Department of Commerce. Trade Compliance Center (TCC)
- U.S. Department of Commerce. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
- U.S. Department of Justice. Antitrust Division
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
- U.S. Trade and Develoment Agency (USTDA)
