International Trade Law News

The European Commission today released its nineteenth annual report on barriers to trade and investment in the United States, detailing the obstacles that E.U. exporters and investors face in the U.S. The report highlights those obstacles which the E.U. believes are affecting the rights of E.U. companies to conduct trade with the U.S.

The report notes that the U.S. has been slow to implement the necessary legal changes in order to conform to its WTO commitments. For example, the E.U. noted that the U.S. has still not repealed the 1916 Anti-dumping Act, which was found to violate certain WTO provisions.

The report also notes that the U.S. has continued its tendency to introduce new national security measures that are more trade distorting than necessary. For example, the E.U. stated that the implementation of the Bioterrorism Act, and in particular the food related provisions of this legislation, have far reaching implications for E.U. agricultural exporters. There are also new restrictions to U.S. government procurement, for example, as a result of the recent announcement by the U.S. Defense Department that competition for prime contracts for procurement for the reconstruction of Iraq would be restricted to companies from the US, Iraq, coalition partners and force contributing nations.