RETURN TO NTA HOME | RETURN TO NTA MEMBERS-ONLYOffice of the United States Trade Representative
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BackgroundThe Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is an agency of over 200 people, a highly committed group of professionals who have decades of specialized experience in trade issues and regions of the world. They negotiate directly with foreign governments to create trade agreements, resolve disputes and participate in global trade policy organizations. They also meet with governments, business groups, legislators and public interest groups to gather input on trade issues and explain the president’s trade policy positions. The agency was founded in 1962 and has offices in Geneva and Brussels. HistoryThe Trade Expansion Act of 1962 required the President to appoint a Special Representative for Trade Negotiations Through executive orders issued in 1963, President John Kennedy created a new Office of the Special Trade Representative (STR) in the Executive Office of the President and designated two new Deputies, one in Washington, D.C., and the other in Geneva, Switzerland. Through the mid- 1960's, STR had the chief responsibility for U.S. participation in the Kennedy Round of multilateral trade negotiations held under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In the 1970s, the Congress substantially expanded the responsibilities of STR. Section 141 of the Trade Act of 1974 provided a legislative charter for STR as part of the Executive Office of the President and made it responsible for the trade agreements programs under the Tariff Act of 1930, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, and the Trade Act of 1974. The 1974 Act also made STR directly accountable to both the President and the Congress for these and other trade responsibilities. Through Executive Order 11846, President Ford elevated the Special Trade Representative to cabinet level. Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1979 consolidated and further broadened STR’s responsibilities. The 1979 reorganization and Executive Order 12188 of the next year renamed STR as the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), centralized U.S. Government policy-making and negotiating functions for international trade, and greatly expanded USTR. These changes: The U.S. Trade Representative’s authority was again enhanced through the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. Section 1601 of the 1988 legislation codified the status and responsibilities of USTR previously established through Reorganization Plan No. 3 and Executive Order 12188. In so doing, the legislation reinforced the Congressional-Executive Partnership for the conduct of U.S. trade policy. The 1988 legislation also included a Sense of the Congress statement that the USTR should be the senior representative on any body the President establishes to advise him on overall economic policies in which international trade matters predominate and that the USTR should be included in all economic summits and other international meetings in which international trade is a major topic. Finally, this legislation further elevated the importance of USTR in trade matters by shifting to USTR the Presidential responsibility for implementing actions under Section 301, subject to specific direction, if any, from the President. The Uruguay Round Agreements Act, enacted in 1994, specifies that USTR has lead responsibility for all negotiations under the auspices of the WTO. The conclusion of such major comprehensive trade agreements as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the WTO Agreement has vastly expanded USTR’s responsibility for implementation and enforcement. The Trade and Development Act of 2000 created within USTR the positions of Chief Agricultural Negotiator and Assistant United States Trade Representative for African Affairs. The principal function of the Chief Agricultural Negotiator is to conduct trade negotiations and enforce trade agreements relating to United States agricultural interests and products. The Assistant United States Trade Representative for African Affairs serves as the chief advisor to the U.S. Trade Representative on issues of trade and investment with Africa and serves as coordinator and point of contact within the Administration on such issues. |
PersonnelAdministration of George W. Bush
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