2021 National Trade Estimate Report on FOREIGN TRADE …

1 2021 national trade estimate report on foreign trade . BARRIERS. UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The Office of the United States TRADE Representative (USTR) is responsible for the preparation of this Report . TRADE Representative Katherine Tai gratefully acknowledges the contributions of all USTR. staff to the writing and production of this Report and notes, in particular, the contributions of Julie McNees 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, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, 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; the Office of the United States TRADE Representative; and, 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 Katherine Tai LIST OF FREQUENTLY USED ACRONYMS. AD .. Antidumping AGOA .. African Growth and Opportunity Act APEC .. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APHIS .. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ASEAN .. Association of Southeast Asian Nations BIT .. Bilateral Investment Treaty CAFTA DR .. Dominican Republic Central America United States Free TRADE Agreement CBERA .. Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act CBI .. Caribbean Basin Initiative CVD .. Countervailing Duty DOL .. Department of Labor DSB .. WTO Dispute Settlement Body DSU.

3 WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding EU1 .. European Union FTA .. Free TRADE Agreement GATT .. General Agreement on Tariffs and TRADE GATS .. General Agreement on TRADE in Services GDP .. Gross Domestic Product GI .. Geographical Indication GPA .. WTO Agreement on Government Procurement GSP .. Generalized System of Preferences HS .. Harmonized System Code HTS .. Harmonized Tariff Schedule Code ICT .. Information and Communication Technology 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 MRL.

4 Maximum Residue Limit NAFTA .. North American Free TRADE Agreement The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development SBA .. Small Business Administration SME .. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise SPS .. Sanitary and Phytosanitary 1 Unless specified otherwise, all references to the European Union refer to the EU-27. TBT .. Technical Barriers to TRADE TFA .. WTO TRADE Facilitation Agreement TRADE and Investment Framework Agreement TRQ .. Tariff-Rate Quota USAID .. Agency for International Development USDA .. Department of Agriculture USMCA .. United States Mexico Canada Agreement USTR .. United States TRADE Representative VAT .. Value-Added Tax WTO.

5 World TRADE Organization TABLE OF CONTENTS. FOREWORD .. 1. ALGERIA .. 7. ANGOLA .. 13. arab league .. 19. ARGENTINA .. 25. AUSTRALIA .. 37. BAHRAIN .. 43. BANGLADESH .. 47. BOLIVIA .. 55. BRAZIL .. 59. BRUNEI DARUSSALAM .. 71. BURMA .. 75. CAMBODIA .. 79. CANADA .. 83. CHILE .. 91. CHINA .. 95. COLOMBIA .. 131. COSTA RICA .. 137. COTE D'IVOIRE .. 143. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC .. 147. ECUADOR .. 151. 161. EL SALVADOR .. 167. ETHIOPIA .. 171. EUROPEAN UNION .. 177. GHANA .. 229. GUATEMALA .. 237. HONDURAS .. 241. HONG KONG .. 245. INDIA .. 247. INDONESIA .. 271. ISRAEL .. 287. JAPAN .. 291. JORDAN .. 309. KENYA .. 313. KOREA .. 323. KUWAIT .. 337. LAOS .. 341. MALAYSIA.

6 345. MEXICO .. 353. MOROCCO .. 365. NEW 369. 373. NIGERIA .. 379. NORWAY .. 387. OMAN .. 391. PAKISTAN .. 395. PANAMA .. 405. PARAGUAY .. 409. PERU .. 413. THE PHILIPPINES .. 417. QATAR .. 427. RUSSIA .. 431. SAUDI ARABIA .. 451. SINGAPORE .. 459. SOUTH 463. SWITZERLAND .. 471. TAIWAN .. 475. THAILAND .. 485. TUNISIA .. 495. TURKEY .. 499. UKRAINE .. 511. UNITED arab EMIRATES .. 519. UNITED KINGDOM .. 529. URUGUAY .. 537. VIETNAM .. 541. APPENDIX I: GHGIRTS .. 555. APPENDIX II: TRADE DATA .. 559. FOREWORD. SCOPE AND COVERAGE. The 2021 national trade estimate report on foreign trade Barriers (NTE) is the 36th in an annual series that highlights significant FOREIGN barriers to exports, FOREIGN direct investment, and electronic commerce.

7 This document is a companion piece to the President's 2021 TRADE Policy Agenda and 2020 Annual Report , published by the Office of the United States TRADE Representative (USTR) in March. 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.

8 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. 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.

9 This Report discusses the largest export markets for the United States, covering 61 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. TRADE barriers elude fixed definitions, but may be broadly defined as government laws, regulations, policies, or practices that 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.

10 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).