-------------- A --------------- ACCESS, MARKET. See Market Access. ACCESS TO SUPPLIES. See Supply Access. ACCESSION. The process of adhering to a legal instrument. In the case of GATT, the prospective Contracting Party enters into accession negotiations with the Contracting Parties to determine the concessions (trade liberalization) or other specific obligations it must undertake before accession is concluded. Prospective members may be accorded "provisional accession," which obligates them to apply GATT rules in their commercial relationships with other Contracting Parties, but not to make tariff concessions. Accession to GATT does not automatically involve adherence to the Codes of Conduct negotiated during the Tokyo Round. See also Concession; Contracting Party; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Grandfather Clause; Protocol of Accession;and Protocol of Provisional Application. ACP COUNTRIES. African, Caribbean and Pacific countries associated with the European Community under the Lome Convention. See also Lome Convention. ACROSS-THE-BOARD (LINEAR) TARIFF REDUCTIONS. See Linear Reduction of Tariffs. ACTN. See Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations. AD VALOREM EQUIVALENT. The duty collected under a specific tariff or a compound tariff expressed as a percentage of the value of the imported item. Since a specific tariff is calculated on the basis of units (of volume or weight), rather than value,and prices can change over time, the ad valorem equivalent could differ when calculated for different time periods. See also Ad Valorem Tariff; Compound Tariff; and Specific Tariff. AD VALOREM TARIFF. A tariff calculated "according to value," or as a percentage of the value of goods cleared through customs, e.g., 15 percent ad valorem means 15 percent of the value. See also Specific Tariff; Tariff; and Valuation. ADDED VALUE TAX. See Value Added Tax. ADDITIONALITY. A measure of the net increase in capital inflows into assisted developing countries as contrasted with a diversion from one form or target of development assistance to another. See also Bilateral Aid; Multilateral Aid; Official Development Assistance; and Transfer Payments. ADJUSTMENT. The process of adaptation in an economy triggered, for example, by technological developments, changes in demand or shifting external trade patterns. The changes may involve a reallocation of labor and capital away from uncompetitive products or sectors and into new or other lines of production in which the economy is competitive. In the specific sense used by the International Monetary Fund, adjustment means the adoption of macroeconomic policies, including monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies, to adjust the level of domestic economic activity to conditions prevailing in the world economy, with the objective of correcting balance of payments disequilibria and pursuing domestic objectives such as lower inflation. See also Adjustment Assistance; Balance of Payments; Competitive; Conditionality; Devaluation; International Monetary Fund; Macroeconomics; Safeguards; Structural Change; and Technology. ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE. Financial, technical or other assistance to firms, workers and communities to help them cope with adjustment difficulties arising from increased import competition or other changes in the economic environment.The objective of the assistance is usually to help an industry to become more competitive in the same line of production, or to move into other economic activities. The aid to workers can take the form of training(to qualify the affected individuals for employment in new or expanding industries), relocation allowances (to help them move from areas characterized by high unemployment to areas where employment may be available), or unemployment compensation (to tide them over while they are searching for new jobs). The aid to firms can take the form of loans or guarantees of loans, tax benefits or other assistance. The benefits of increased trade to an importing country generally exceed the costs of adjustment, but the benefits are widely shared and the adjustment costs are sometimes narrowly -- and some would say unfairly -- concentrated on a few domestic producers and communities. Both import restraints and adjustment assistance can be designed to reduce these hardships, but adjustment assistance þ- unlike import restraints þ- allows the economy to enjoy the full benefits of lower-cost imported goods. Adjustment assistance can also be designed to facilitate structural shifts of resources from less productive to more productive industries, contributing further to greater economic efficiency and improved standards of living. See also Adjustment; Escape Clause; Structural Change; and Trade Act of 1974. ADJUSTMENTS. In calculating the margin in an anti-dumping determination, various adjustments are made to both United States price and foreign market value to ensure that price comparisons between the two are not distorted by factors extraneous to the central issue of price discrimination between markets. Differences in price for which adjustments are made include differences in physical characteristics, quantities sold, packing and delivery costs, circumstances of sale, and applicable indirect taxes and duties. See also Fair Market Value. ADVANCED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. See Developing Countries; and Newly Industrializing Countries. ADVERTISING. See Services. ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR TRADE NEGOTIATIONS (ACTN). A group of eminent individuals appointed by the U.S. president to advise him on trade agreements and trade policy. See also United States Trade Representative. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (AID). The unit within the U. S. government responsible for the administration of U.S. bilateral development assistance programs. AID also participates actively in the development of other U.S. policies and programs related to Third World economic development. See also Bilateral Aid; Developing Countries; and Official Development Assistance. AGREEMENT ON SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING DUTIES. See Countervailing Duties; and Export Subsidies. AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 1933. See Section 22. AGRICULTURAL TRADE DEVELOPMENT AND ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1954. See Public Law 480. AID. See Agency for International Development. AIRCRAFT AGREEMENT. The "Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft," sometimes also referred to as the "Aircraft Code," was signed in Geneva in December 1979 and entered into force on January 1, 1980. This was the only multilateral sectoral agreement designed to expand trade in manufactured products that was negotiated during the 1973-79 Tokyo Round of GATT negotiations, and it was intended to provide a new international framework for free trade in civil aircraft. It uniquely addressed tariff and non-tariff issues in a single sectoral context. Tariffs on civil aircraft, engines, most components and ground flight simulators were eliminated. On non-tariff issues, the agreement established new international commitments concerning government intervention in aircraft, aircraft component and simulator procurement, including disciplines on: technical or standards barriers with respect to certification requirements and specifications on operations and maintenance procedures; government-directed procurement actions and mandatory subcontracts, sales-related inducements, quantitative trade restrictions and government supports. Subsequent negotiations have resulted in modifications to the agreement and additions to its annex of duty-free items in 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1986. The original signatories to the agreement were Austria, Canada, the member states of the European Economic Community, the European Community, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. Rumania and Egypt acceded to the agreement later, as did Greece, Portugal and Spain when they joined the EC. Currently there are 22 signatories to the agreement. See also Free Trade; Non-Tariff Measures; and Tariff. AIRCRAFT CODE. See Aircraft Agreement. ANDEAN PACT. An arrangement between Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela for the coordination of economic policies, including the formation of a free trade zone in the Andean region. See also Free Trade Zone. ANTIBOYCOTT LEGISLATION. The Export Administration Act was promulgated in 1969, amended in 1977 and 1979, and expired in 1990 but was continued by Executive Order 12730 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. It declares the policy of the United States to oppose restrictive trade practices or boycotts by foreign countries against countries friendly to the United States. The U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Export Administration, Office of Antiboycott Compliance enforces regulations prohibiting U.S. citizens from engaging in a wide variety of activities that comply with, further, or support unsanctioned foreign boycotts. Prohibited activities include refusing and agreeing to refuse to do business for boycott reasons, taking discriminatory actions that are boycott based, furnishing of information about business relationships with or in a boycotted country or with blacklisted persons, and engaging in evasion activities, such as devices or schemes intended to place a blacklisted person at a commercial disadvantage. The principle focus of the regulatory activities of the Office of Antiboycott Compliance relate to the Arab boycott of Israel. In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department enforces the antiboycott provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1976 which prohibit certain tax benefits to those who agree to "participate in or cooperate with an international boycott." See also Boycott and Export Administration Act of 1979. ANTI-DUMPING CODE. A code of conduct negotiated under the auspices of GATT during the Tokyo Round (replacing an earlier code negotiated during the Kennedy Round) that established both substantive and procedural standards for anti-dumping proceedings in signatory countries. The Anti-Dumping Code was implemented in the United States through the U.S. Trade Agreements Act of 1979, which repealed the Anti-Dumping Law of 1921 and inserted new anti-dumping provisions in the Tariff Act of 1930, providing for the imposition of special duties equivalent to the margin of "dumping" of imported merchandise. Goods imported into the United States are considered "dumped" when they are found to have been sold at less than fair value and to have caused or threaten to cause material injury to a U.S. industry. See also Codes of Conduct; Dumping; Kennedy Round; and Trade Agreements Act of 1979. ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES. See Dumping. ANTI-TRUST. A term used to describe a policy or action that seeks to curtail monopolistic power within a market. See also Export Trading Company; Market; Monopoly, Restrictive Business Practices, and Webb-Pomerene Act. APEC See Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. APPAREL. See Multi-Fiber Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles; and Textiles. APPRAISAL. See Valuation. ARBITRATION. An arrangement through which two parties to a dispute agree to the appointment of an impartial chairman or group of competent persons to decide the issue, the disputants agreeing in advance to abide by the decision rendered. See also Dispute Settlement; and Panel of Experts. ARTICLE 11 (GATT ARTICLE XI). GATT provision that prohibits the use of quantitative restrictions (e.g., embargoes, bans, quotas, restrictive licenses) to regulate imports and exports, except under certain specific conditions, or unless provided for in some other GATT Article. See also Quantitative Restrictions; and Section 22. ARTICLE 19 (GATT ARTICLE XIX). GATT provision that prescribes when emergency action (e.g., restrictive measures other than normal tariffs) can be taken against imports that are injuring domestic producers. See also Escape Clause; and Safeguards. ARTICLE 23 (GATT ARTICLE XXIII). Along with Article XXII, the provision of the GATT that requires GATT members to consult with each other concerning disputes that arise under GATT rules. Article XXIII also sets the basic provisions for resolving disputes that cannot be settled through bilateral consultations. See also Consultation; Dispute Settlement; and Quantitative Restrictions. ARTICLE 24 (GATT ARTICLE XXIV). Regulates how customs unions and free trade areas may be formed as exceptions to the most-favored-nation (MFN) provisions of Article I. Provides for notification to the GATT Contracting Parties, review in a Working Party,and the application of substantive criteria to the formation of such regional trade associations. See also Customs Union; and Free Trade. ARTICLES OF GATT: ARTICLE I. See Enabling Clause; Most-Favored-Nation Treatment. ARTICLE II. See Concession. ARTICLES III THROUGH XXIII. See Codes of Conduct. ARTICLE VI. See Border Tax Adjustments; Countervailing Duties; Dumping. ARTICLE XI. See Article 11; Quantitative Restrictions; Section 22. ARTICLE XII. See Quantitative Restrictions. ARTICLE XIII. See Quantitative Restrictions. ARTICLE XV. See Balance of Payments Consultations. ARTICLE XVI. See Border Tax Adjustments; Export Subsidies. ARTICLE XVIII. See Quantitative Restrictions. ARTICLE XIX. See Article 19; Escape Clause; Safeguards. ARTICLE XX. See Quantitative Restrictions. ARTICLE XXI. See Quantitative Restrictions. ARTICLES XXII, XXIII. See Article 23; Consultations; Dispute Settlement. ARTICLE XXIV. See Article 24; Customs Union; Free Trade Area. ARTICLES XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXVIII. See General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Part IV of the GATT. ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC). A forum established as a vehicle for multilateral cooperation among the market-oriented economies of the region to better manage their growing interdependence and sustain economic growth. Begun in 1989 as an informal grouping of 12 Asia-Pacific economies (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Japan,South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the United States), APEC admitted the People's Republic of China, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong in November 1991, and Mexico and Papua /New Guinea in November 1993, bringing membership to 17. Annual meetings of foreign and economic ministers have been held, with the first in Canberra, Australia, in November 1989. The United States hosted a ministerial in November 1993 in Seattle, Washington. ASSOCIATED STATES. See ACP Countries; European Community; and Lome Convention. ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT See European Community. ATA CARNET. An international customs document that is recognized as an internationally valid guarantee and may be used in lieu of national customs documents and as security for import duties and taxes to cover the temporary admission of goods and sometimes the transit of goods. The ATA ("Admission Temporaire-Temporary Admission") Convention of 1961 authorized the ATA Carnet to replace the ECS ("Echantillons Commerciaux-Commercial Samples") Carnet that was created by a 1956 convention sponsored by the Customs Cooperation Council. ATA Carnets are issued by National Chambers of Commerce affiliated with the International Chamber of Commerce, which also guarantees payment of duties in the event of failure to reexport. See also Customs Cooperation Council. AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND CLOSER ECONOMIC RELATIONS AGREEMENT (CER). An agreement aimed at increasing trade links by liberalizing trans-Tasman trade, therefore allowing for more efficient use of each country's resources. Implemented on January 1, 1983, the CER has the ultimate goal of eliminating import quotas and tariffs by 1995 and eliminating import licensing requirements by 1999. The CER contains provisions to gradually reduce duties, quotas and licensing requirements. It also provides for the elimination of domestic export incentive schemes in Australia-New Zealand transactions, extension of government purchases between the two countries and harmonization of customs policies. See also Bilateral Trade Agreement; Binding Concessions; Trade Agreement; and Export Quotas.