2020 NATIONAL TRADE ESTIMATE REPORT ON FOREIGN …

1 2020 NATIONAL TRADE ESTIMATE REPORT ON FOREIGN TRADE BARRIERS UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE ROBERT E. LIGHTHIZER ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Office of the United States TRADE Representative (USTR) is responsible for the preparation of this REPORT . TRADE Representative Robert E. Lighthizer gratefully acknowledges the contributions of all USTR staff to the writing and production of this REPORT and notes, in particular, the contributions of Sarah Donofrio, Sierra Janik, and Spencer Smith. Thanks are extended to partner Executive Branch members of the TRADE Policy Staff Committee (TPSC). The TPSC is composed of the following Executive Branch entities: the Departments of Agriculture, State, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, Transportation, and Treasury; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Office of Management and Budget; the Council of Economic Advisers; the Council on Environmental Quality; the Agency for international Development; the Small Business Administration; the NATIONAL Economic Council; the NATIONAL Security Council; and, the Office of the United States TRADE Representative; as well as non-voting member the international TRADE Commission.

2 In preparing the REPORT , substantial information was solicited from Embassies. Office of the United States TRADE Representative Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer LIST OF FREQUENTLY USED ACRONYMS AD .. Antidumping AGOA .. African Growth and Opportunity Act APEC .. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ASEAN .. Association of Southeast Asian Nations BIT .. Bilateral Investment Treaty BOP .. Balance of Payments Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free TRADE Agreement CBERA .. Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act CBI .. Caribbean Basin Initiative CVD .. Countervailing Duty DDA .. Doha Development Agenda DOL .. Department of Labor DSB .. WTO Dispute Settlement Body DSU .. WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding EU .. European Union FOIA .. Freedom of Information Act GATT .. General Agreement on Tariffs and TRADE GATS.

3 General Agreement on TRADE in Services GDP .. Gross Domestic Product GI .. Geographical Indications GPA .. WTO Agreement on Government Procurement GSP .. Generalized System of Preferences ICTIME .. Interagency Center on TRADE Implementation, Monitoring, and Enforcement ILO .. international Labor Organization IP .. Intellectual Property ITA .. WTO Information Technology Agreement KORUS .. United States-Korea Free TRADE Agreement MFN .. Most-Favored Nation MOU .. Memorandum of Understanding NAFTA .. North American Free TRADE Agreement OECD .. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development SBA .. Small Business Administration SME .. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise SPS .. Sanitary and Phytosanitary TAA .. TRADE Adjustment Assistance TBT .. Technical Barriers to TRADE TFA .. WTO TRADE Facilitation Agreement TIFA .. TRADE and Investment Framework Agreement TPRG.

4 TRADE Policy Review Group TPSC .. TRADE Policy Staff Committee TRIMS .. TRADE -Related Investment Measures TRIPS .. TRADE -Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights TRQ .. Tariff-Rate Quota URAA .. Uruguay Round Agreements Act USAID .. Agency for international Development USMCA .. United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement USTR .. United States TRADE Representative WTO .. World TRADE Organization TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD .. 1 ALGERIA .. 7 ANGOLA .. 11 ARAB LEAGUE .. 17 ARGENTINA .. 23 AUSTRALIA .. 37 BAHRAIN .. 43 BANGLADESH .. 47 BOLIVIA .. 55 BRAZIL .. 59 BRUNEI DARUSSALAM .. 71 BURMA .. 75 CAMBODIA .. 79 CANADA .. 85 CHILE .. 95 CHINA .. 99 COLOMBIA .. 125 COSTA RICA .. 131 COTE D IVOIRE .. 137 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC .. 141 ECUADOR .. 145 EGYPT .. 153 EL SALVADOR .. 159 ETHIOPIA .. 165 EUROPEAN UNION .. 171 GHANA .. 217 GUATEMALA .. 225 HONDURAS .. 229 HONG KONG.

5 235 INDIA .. 237 INDONESIA .. 259 ISRAEL .. 277 JAPAN .. 281 JORDAN .. 299 KENYA .. 303 KOREA .. 313 KUWAIT .. 325 LAOS .. 329 MALAYSIA .. 333 MEXICO .. 341 MOROCCO .. 351 NEW ZEALAND .. 355 359 NIGERIA .. 365 371 OMAN .. 375 PAKISTAN .. 379 PANAMA .. 387 PARAGUAY .. 391 PERU .. 395 THE PHILIPPINES .. 399 QATAR .. 409 RUSSIA .. 413 SAUDI ARABIA .. 433 SINGAPORE .. 441 SOUTH 445 SWITZERLAND .. 455 TAIWAN .. 459 THAILAND .. 469 TUNISIA .. 479 TURKEY .. 483 493 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES .. 501 VIETNAM .. 509 APPENDIX I .. 521 APPENDIX II .. 525 FOREIGN TRADE BARRIERS | 1 FOREWORD SCOPE AND COVERAGE The 2020 NATIONAL TRADE ESTIMATE REPORT on FOREIGN TRADE Barriers (NTE) is the 35th in an annual series that highlights significant FOREIGN barriers to exports, FOREIGN direct investment, and electronic commerce. This document is a companion piece to the President s 2020 TRADE Policy Agenda and 2019 Annual REPORT , published by the Office of the United States TRADE Representative (USTR) in March.

6 In accordance with section 181 of the TRADE Act of 1974, as amended by section 303 of the TRADE and Tariff Act of 1984 and amended by section 1304 of the Omnibus TRADE and Competitiveness Act of 1988, section 311 of the Uruguay Round TRADE Agreements Act, and section 1202 of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, USTR is required to submit to the President, the Senate Finance Committee, and appropriate committees in the House of Representatives, an annual REPORT on significant FOREIGN TRADE barriers. The statute requires an inventory of the most important FOREIGN barriers affecting exports of goods and services, including agricultural commodities and intellectual property; FOREIGN direct investment by persons, especially if such investment has implications for TRADE in goods or services; and electronic commerce. Such an inventory enhances awareness of these TRADE restrictions, facilitates negotiations aimed at reducing or eliminating these barriers, and is a valuable tool in enforcing TRADE laws and strengthening the rules-based system.

7 The NTE REPORT is based upon information compiled within USTR, the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture, other Government agencies, and Embassies, as well as information provided by the public in response to a notice published in the Federal Register. This REPORT discusses the largest export markets for the United States, covering 59 countries, the European Union, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Arab League. The discussion of Chinese TRADE barriers is structured and focused to align more closely with other Congressional reports prepared by USTR on TRADE issues. The China section includes cross-references to other USTR reports where appropriate. As always, omission of particular countries and barriers does not imply that they are not of concern to the United States. For example, USTR s Notorious Markets List for 2019 is still being finalized. Therefore, the absence of reference to notorious markets for any particular country in this REPORT does not imply an absence of notorious markets nor a change in circumstance from last year s NTE REPORT .

8 TRADE barriers elude fixed definitions, but may be broadly defined as government laws, regulations, policies, or practices that either protect domestic goods and services from FOREIGN competition, artificially stimulate exports of particular domestic goods and services, or fail to provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights. The NTE covers significant barriers, whether they are consistent or inconsistent with international trading rules. Tariffs, for example, are an accepted method of protection under the General Agreement on Tariffs and TRADE 1994 (GATT 1994). Even a very high tariff does not violate international rules unless a country has made a commitment not to exceed a specified rate, , a tariff binding. Nonetheless, it would be a significant barrier to exports, and therefore covered in the NTE REPORT . Measures not consistent with international TRADE agreements, in addition to serving as barriers to TRADE and causes of concern for policy, are actionable under TRADE law as well as through the World TRADE Organization (WTO).

9 2 | FOREIGN TRADE BARRIERS This REPORT classifies FOREIGN TRADE barriers in eleven categories. These categories cover government-imposed measures and policies that restrict, prevent, or impede the international exchange of goods and services, unduly hamper FOREIGN direct investment or electronic commerce. The categories covered include: Import policies ( , tariffs and other import charges, quantitative restrictions, import licensing, customs barriers and shortcomings in TRADE facilitation, and other market access barriers); Technical barriers to TRADE ( , unnecessarily TRADE restrictive standards, conformity assessment procedures, or technical regulations, including unnecessary or discriminatory technical regulations or standards for telecommunications products); Sanitary and phytosanitary measures ( , TRADE restrictions implemented through unwarranted measures not based on scientific evidence).

10 Subsidies, including export subsidies ( , export financing on preferential terms and agricultural export subsidies that displace exports in third country markets) and local content subsidies ( , subsidies contingent on the purchase or use of domestic rather than imported goods); Government procurement ( , buy NATIONAL policies and closed bidding); Intellectual property protection ( , inadequate patent, copyright, and trademark regimes and inadequate enforcement of intellectual property rights); Services barriers ( , prohibitions or restrictions on FOREIGN participation in the market, discriminatory licensing requirements or regulatory standards, local-presence requirements, and unreasonable restrictions on what services may be offered); Barriers to digital TRADE and electronic commerce ( , barriers to cross-border data flows, including data localization requirements, discriminatory practices affecting TRADE in digital products, restrictions on the provision of Internet-enabled services, and other restrictive technology requirements); Investment barriers ( , limitations on FOREIGN equity participation and on access to FOREIGN government-funded research and development programs, local content requirements, technology transfer requirements and export performance requirements, and restrictions on repatriation of earnings, capital, fees and royalties).