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Agricultural Exports: Technical Barriers to Trade

Description: Technical barriers to trade (TBTs) are widely divergent measures that countries use to regulate rnarkets, protect their consumers, and preserve natural resources, but which can also discriminate against imports in favor of domestic products. Most TBTs in agriculture are sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures designed to protect humans, animals, and plants from contaminants, diseases, and pests. In the wake of new trade agreements aimed at reducing tariffs, import quotas, and other trade barr… more
Date: October 21, 1997
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S. Agriculture and the International Monetary Fund

Description: Congress is considering legislation to provide supplemental resources to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to strengthen its ability to deal with future financial crises like those currently in Asia and in 1994-95 in Mexico. many in U.S.
Date: July 6, 1998
Creator: Hanrahan, Charles E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.S.-European Agricultural Trade: Food Safety and Biotechnology Issues

Description: The European Union (EU) is the second largest market for U.S. agricultural exports. The EU's ban on meat produced using growth-promoting hormones is a food safety issue that has been particularly contentious in U.S.-EU agricultural trade relations. EU policy on bio-engineered products has also been an issue. A World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel has ruled that the ban contravenes the EU's international obligations under the WTO, but left open the option to the EU to conduct a risk… more
Date: October 21, 1998
Creator: Hanrahan, Charles E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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IMF and World Bank: U.S. Contributions and Agency Budgets

Description: This paper shows how much the United States has contributed to these international agencies in recent years. It also shows how much the international agencies budget (and the source of those funds) for their administrative expenses and their operational budgets. This report will be updated periodically.
Date: December 9, 1999
Creator: Sanford, Jonathan E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: Its Past and Future

Description: This report discusses the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). It is divided into six sections: Introduction, Background, CITES and the Endangered Species Act, Implementation, Upcoming Events, and Appendices.
Date: August 24, 1994
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Japan: Resale Price Maintenance

Description: Resale price maintenance occurs when manufacturers control the prices charged by wholesalers or retailers of their products. In Japan, such activities are prohibited, although certain exemptions are allowed. The U.S. concern over the practice is that it could allow Japanese firms to generate a secure profit base in their home market in order to finance aggressive price competition abroad.
Date: March 28, 1991
Creator: Nanto, Dick K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Japanese Companies and Technology: Lessons to Learn?

Description: American companies are facing increased competitive pressures from foreign firms. Many observers feel that U.S. firms lag behind their foreign competitors in the development, application, and marketing of new technologies and techniques. The Japanese industrial enterprise is characterized by a large proportion of private sector financing and many other factors, which this report analyzes at length. The question being debated by Congress is whether or not U.S. government programs and policies ar… more
Date: April 15, 1991
Creator: Schacht, Wendy H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Competitiveness: Economic Issue or Illusion?

Description: While "competitiveness" has a clear meaning when applied to a baseball team, or a firm or industry, it is of limited usefulness when applied to a country's overall economic performance. Moreover, focussing on competitiveness can lead to questionable economic policies.
Date: May 5, 1994
Creator: Elwell, Craig K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Agriculture and Fast Track Trade Legislation

Description: Senate and House committees in October reported legislation for new fast track authority enabling the Administration to negotiate trade agreements with foreign countries and to submit them to Congress for consideration under expedited procedures. Many agricultural and food industry interests are among the export-dependent enterprises that support new fast track authority, arguing that foreign trading partners will not seriously negotiate with an Administration that lacks it. However, some agric… more
Date: December 3, 1997
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S. & Hanrahan, Charles E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Fast-Track Trade Negotiating Authority: A Comparison of 105th Congress Legislative Proposals

Description: This report provides a side-by-side comparison of H.R. 2621 and S. 2400, as reported, 105th Congress bills that would provide the President with trade negotiating authority and accord certain resulting agreements and implementing bills expedited -- or "fast-track" -- legislative consideration.
Date: September 15, 1998
Creator: Grimmett, Jeanne J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Fast-Track Trade Negotiating Authority: A Comparison of 105th Congress Legislative Proposals

Description: This report provides a side-by-side comparison of the reported versions of H.R. 2621 and S. 1269, 105 Congress bills that would provide the President with trade negotiating authority and accord certain resulting agreements and implementing bills expedited -- or “fast-track” -- legislative consideration.
Date: July 2, 1998
Creator: Grimmett, Jeanne J.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Fast Track for Trade Agreements: Procedural Controls for Congress and Proposed Alternatives

Description: This report discusses the fast track trade procedures in the Trade Act of 1974 operate as procedural rules of the House and Senate, and the statute itself declares them to be enacted as an exercise of the constitutional authority of each house to determine its own rules. These procedures prevent Congress from altering an implementing bill or declining to act, but permit it to enact or reject the bill. By these means Congress retains authority to legislate in the areas covered, yet affords the P… more
Date: October 31, 1997
Creator: Beth, Richard S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Trade Agreements: Renewing the Negotiating and Fast-Track Implementing Authority

Description: Legislation authorizing the negotiation and, where required, fast-track implementation of trade agreements expired in early 1994. Action in the 104th Congress to renew the authority, prompted in part by the near-term prospect of the negotiation of a free-trade agreement with Chile, which might later be followed by other agreements, reached an impasse in late 1995 because of a disagreement between Congress and the Administration as to the inclusion of labor and environmental issues in agreements… more
Date: June 30, 1998
Creator: Pregelj, Vladimir N.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Drug Certification of Mexico in 1999: Arguments For and Against Congressional Resolutions of Disapproval

Description: This report presents arguments for and against congressional resolutions to disapprove President Clinton’s February 26, 1999 certification of Mexico as a fully cooperative country in efforts to control illicit narcotics.1 These resolutions (H.J.Res. 35--Bachus, and H.J.Res. 43--Mica and Gilman) would disapprove the President’s certification, but would permit him to avoid withholding of assistance to Mexico if he determined that vital national interests required such assistance.
Date: March 30, 1999
Creator: Storrs, K. Larry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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NAFTA: A Broad Economic Perspective

Description: Most economists believe that the main economic benefit of NAFTA will be that, over time, it will increase productivity and incomes in the United States, Mexico and Canada. In this view, living standards of all three countries will be higher than without a NAFTA. In the near term, some reallocation of resources will occur within each country, generating gains for some producers and costs for others. New industries emerge, some industries expand, some contract, and some die. Since the Mexican and… more
Date: November 9, 1993
Creator: Wilson, Arlene
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Trade and Development Agency

Description: Congressional interest linking foreign aid more directly with commercial interests has grown in recent years as the U.S. budget becomes increasingly strained, constituent support for foreign aid dwindles, and U.S. industries seek Federal assistance. The Trade and Development Agency is one of several Government agencies involved in "aid for trade"--programs that combine development assistance and export promotion.
Date: August 5, 1993
Creator: Epstein, Susan B.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Asian Financial Crisis: An Analysis of U.S. Foreign Policy Interests and Options

Description: The principal focus of this report is on the foreign policy ramifications of the Asian financial crisis and U.S. options for addressing them. This report tracks and analyzes the efforts of the most seriously affected Asian countries to deal with their economic and financial problems, and their interaction with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United States, and other major sources of financial support and policy advice. It also addresses the implications of the crisis for such U.S. in… more
Date: April 23, 1998
Creator: Cronin, Richard P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Commercial Relations with the Soviet Union: Prospects for a Common United States Japanese Policy

Description: Discussions in Japan from January 27-February 1, 1991 provided a basis for assessing the prospects for expanding commercial relations with the Soviet Union, perhaps as part of a Soviet/Japanese Summit to convene on April 16. These discussions included key Japanese industrialists, bankers, government officials and academics who influence policy. There was also a meeting of the Soviet-Japanese Business Cooperation Committee during the same period. The conditions from the Japanese perspective for … more
Date: February 25, 1991
Creator: Hardt, John P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Commercial Relations with Russia: Prospects for a Common United States-Japanese Policy

Description: Discussions in Japan in May 1992 related to potential agreements at the September 1992 Russian-Japanese summit were keyed to the central question, Will the barriers to significant commercial cooperation involving Russia, Japan and the United States in Russian Siberia be removed? [1] From these discussions among key Japanese industrialists, bankers, government officials and academics who influence policy, came a tentative "yes", if four conditions are met. A positive outcome would thus seem more… more
Date: July 30, 1992
Creator: Hardt, John P.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Japan-U.S. Economic Relations: Selected References

Description: This list of readings focuses on the current state of the U.S. economic relationship with Japan. A general, introductory section is followed by citations discussing specific Japanese business practices and trade policies which have an impact on the relationship. The bibliography also describes trade trends in specific sectors (including commentaries on the semiconductor agreement) and concludes with a section on policy options.
Date: August 1, 1992
Creator: Howe, Robert
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Asia's Reaction to NAFTA

Description: NAFTA raises potential economic and political issues for U.S. relations with Asian countries for whom the agreement presents uncertainties regarding the future of their market opportunities in North America. As countries not associated with a preferential trading arrangement of their own, Asian countries are concerned that a trend toward regional trade agreements may affect the capacity of multilateral institutions to protect their global trading interests. This report examines Asian perception… more
Date: June 30, 1993
Creator: Hamilton, Nancy J
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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