-------------- B -------------- BALANCE OF CONCESSIONS. See Concession; and Reciprocity. BALANCE OF PAYMENTS. A tabulation of a country's credit and debit transactions with other countries and international institutions.These transactions are divided into two broad groups: current account and capital account. The main items included are exports and imports of goods and services (the balance of trade), foreign direct investments, intergovernmental loans, transfer payments, capital inflows and outflows, and changes in official gold holdings and foreign exchange reserves. See also Adjustment; Capital Account; Current Account; International Monetary Fund; Invisible Trade; Macroeconomics; Quantitative Restrictions; Transfer Payments; and Visible Trade. BALANCE OF PAYMENTS CONSULTATIONS. Article XV of GATT requires coordination between the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the International Monetary Fund to ensure that the trade and payments implications of any quantitative restrictions imposed for balance of payments reasons are fully analyzed within the respective jurisdictions of both organizations. Any Contracting Party that imposes such quantitative restrictions for balance of payments reasons is expected to hold consultations with other interested Contracting Parties. The Framework Agreement concluded during the Tokyo Round provided that any other trade restrictive measures imposed for balance of payments reasons should also be discussed in such consultations. See also Consultations; Exchange Controls;Framework Agreement; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; International Monetary Fund; Prior Deposits; and Quantitative Restrictions. BALANCE OF TRADE. A component of the balance of payments, or the surplus or deficit that results from comparing a country's expenditures on merchandise imports and receipts derived from its merchandise exports. See also Credit; and Mercantilism. BANKING. See Credit; Interest; Loan; and Services. BARTER. The direct exchange of goods for other goods, without the use of money as a medium of exchange and without the involvement of a third party. See also Countertrade; and Money. BASKET OF CURRENCIES. See Par Value; and Special Drawing Rights. BDV. See Customs Valuation Code. BEGGAR-THY-NEIGHBOR POLICY. A course of action through which a country tries to reduce unemployment and increase domestic output by raising tariffs and instituting non-tariff barriers that impede imports, or by accomplishing the same objective through competitive devaluation. Countries that pursued such policies in the early 1930s found that other countries retaliated by raising their own barriers against imports, which, by reducing export markets, tended to worsen the economic difficulties that precipitated the initial protectionist action. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 is often cited as a conspicuous example of this approach. See also Column 2 Rates; Devaluation; Protectionism; Retaliation; and Tariff Act of 1930. BERN CONVENTION. The International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, signed at Bern, Switzerland, on September 9, 1886, with additional protocols and revisions signed in 1914, 1928, 1948, 1967, and 1971, is a major multinational treaty concerning the scope of copyright protection to be afforded works prepared by foreign persons whose countries are signatories. It provides copyright protection in the form of national treatment and also requires member countries to provide certain minimum protections for specified types of works. For instance, it requires that literary works be protected for the life of the author plus 50 years and forbids imposition of formalities (e.g., a copyright notice) as a condition of protection. The other major copyright treaty, the Universal Copyright Convention, is somewhat less protective of the rights of authors. After decades of refusing to join, the United States became a signatory of the Bern Convention in 1989. It is now pressing other nonmembers to enhance their respective copyright laws and join Bern. See also Copyright; Intellectual Property; and Trademark. BERN UNION. See World Intellectual Property Organization. BILATERAL. Agreement or arrangement involving two sides. See also Multilateral; and Unilateral. BILATERAL AID. Development assistance provided directly by a donor country to a recipient country (as opposed to aid channeled through multilateral institutions). See also Agency for International Development; and Multilateral Aid. BILATERAL INVESTMENT TREATY (BIT). An agreement establishing the terms and conditions for private investment by nationals and companies of one country in the country of the other. BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENT. A formal or informal agreement involving commerce between two countries. See also Consultations; Multi-Fiber Arrangement Regarding International Trade in Textiles; and Trade Agreement. BILL. A document giving evidence of indebtedness of one party to another, as, for example, a written order for goods that can be used as security for a loan to the supplier of the goods from a bank, or a security such as a Treasury bill.See also Euro-Dollars; Medium of Exchange; Security; and Trade Agreements Act of 1934. BINATIONAL PANEL. In the context of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, binational panels were established to assist in the resolution of trade disputes which have been referred by the U.S.-Canada Trade Commission for panel consideration.The composition of panels under the CFTA is spelled out in Chapter 5, 18 and 19 of the agreement. Rosters of eligible candidates were maintained by both countries. See also Bilateral Trade Agreement; U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement; and U.S.-Canada Trade Commission. BINDING. A provision in a trade agreement that no tariff rate higher than the rate specified in the agreement will be imposed during the life of the agreement See also Bound Rates; Compensation, Concessions; and Tariff. BIT. See Bilateral Investment Treaty. BOGUS GOODS. See Commercial Counterfeiting. BOND. An interest-bearing certificate issued by a government or a business promising to pay the holder a specified sum on a specified date. A bond is a common means of raising capital. See also Capital Market; and Credit. BONDED GOODS. Imported goods stored in a bonded warehouse, usually after the owners of the goods have deposited a bond guaranteeing that the duty will be paid when and if the goods are withdrawn for domestic sale. See also Bond; and Bonded Warehouse. BONDED WAREHOUSE. A secure storage area in which goods, subject to excise taxes or customs duties, are stored pending payment of taxes or duties. See also Free Zone. BORDER TAX ADJUSTMENTS. The remission of indirect taxes on exported goods, including sales taxes and value added taxes, designed to ensure that national tax systems do not impede exports, and the imposition of domestic taxes on imported goods,to ensure that they do not receive preferential treatment, as compared with domestically produced goods. Frontier adjustments on exports are permitted for indirect taxes under Articles VI and XVI of GATT, but not for direct taxes (such as income taxes assessed on producing firms). The U.S. government makes little use of border tax adjustments, since it relies more heavily on income (or direct) taxes than do most other governments, and since most goods exported from the United States are not subject to indirect taxes. See also Direct Tax; Indirect Tax; Tax; and Value Added Tax. BOUND RATES. Tariff rates resulting from GATT negotiations that are incorporated in a country's schedule of concessions and are thus enforceable as an integral element of GATT. If a Contracting Party raises a tariff to a higher level than its bound rate, the major beneficiaries of the earlier binding have a right under the GATT to receive compensation, usually in the form of reduced tariffs on other products they export to the country. If the beneficiaries do not receive such compensation they may retaliate by raising their own tariffs against an equivalent value of the original country's exports. See also Binding; Compensation; Concession; Contracting Party; Retaliation; and Tariff. BOUNTIES. Payments by governments to producers of goods, often to strengthen their competitive position. See also Countervailing Duties. BOYCOTT. A refusal to deal commercially or otherwise with a person, firm or country. See also Coordinating Committee on Export Controls; Embargo; and Export Administration Act of 1979. BRETTON WOODS CONFERENCE. A meeting of Central Bank economists and other government officials, formally known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, that took place in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in July 1944. The conference was convened to consider alternative proposals put forward by British and American financial experts relating to international payments problems, the economic reconstruction needs of Europe upon the conclusion of World War II, and the need to ensure stable exchange rates and free convertibility of currencies. The compromise solution negotiated at Bretton Woods envisaged the establishment of an International Monetary Fund and an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank). The presumed need for an International Trade Organization was also informally considered at Bretton Woods. See also General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; International Monetary Fund; and World Bank. BRIDGING CREDIT. Borrowing ahead of receiving payment for a sale, or short term credit to a customer pending his receipt of funds from another source. See also Credit. BROKER. An intermediary between a buyer and a seller in a highly organized market, as in the case of a stockbroker. See also Capital Market; Market; and Security. BRUSSELS DEFINITION OF VALUE. See Customs Valuation Code. BRUSSELS MINISTERIAL. The Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations was scheduled to conclude at an EC-hosted ministerial meeting in Brussels, December 3-7, 1990; however, discussions broke down and the conclusion of the Round was postponed. See also Uruguay Round. BRUSSELS TARIFF NOMENCLATURE. See Customs Classification. BTN. See Customs Cooperation Council Nomenclature. BUFFER STOCKS. Commodity stockpiles managed in such a way as to moderate price fluctuations. Goods may be sold from a stockpile when prices reach or approach predetermined ceiling prices, and purchased for the stockpile when prices reach or approach predetermined floor levels. Rubber and cocoa are among the commodities considered most likely to benefit from buffer stocks, and international commodity agreements exist for both of these products. See also Commodity; Common Fund; Integrated Program for Commodities; International Commodity Agreement;and Strategic Stockpiles. BULK CARRIER. A transporter (usually an ocean-going vessel) of large, heavy cargoes on unscheduled services. "Dry" cargoes are usually mineral ores (such as phosphates or manganese), as opposed to "liquid hydrocarbons," a phrase that usually refers to petroleum. BUY AMERICAN ACT. U.S. legislation passed in 1933 which mandates preference for the purchase of domestically produced goods over foreign goods in U.S. government procurement. The president has the authority to waive the Buy American Act within the terms of a reciprocal agreement or otherwise in response to the provision of reciprocal treatment to U.S. producers. Under the 1979 GATT Government Procurement Code, the U.S.-Israel FTA, and the U.S.-Canada FTA, the United States provides access to the government procurement of certain U.S. agencies for goods from the other parties to those agreements. Other "buy-national" legislative provisions also exist separately from the Buy American Act requirements. See also Government Procurement Policies and Practices; U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement;and U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. BUY-BACK. See Countertrade. "BUY NATIONAL" BIAS. See Government Procurement Policies and Practices.