United States Reciprocal Trade Agreements Program

United States Reciprocal Trade Agreements Program in Global Commerce Policy

In this regard, united states reciprocal trade agreements program is: established by the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act of 1934 which is an amendment to the Tariff Act of 1930, known also as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. The entries on trade policy are here. It authorized the President to enter into trade agreements with foreign governments and to modify existing duties, import restrictions and customs or excise treatment as necessary to carry out the agreements made with them. There was no sense, however, that tariffs on agricultural products would be included in the program of prospective reciprocal tariff reductions. The entries on trade policy are here. It should be noted that some of the earlier tariff acts had contained provisions permitting reciprocal tariff reductions, but these were not used, either because the conditions were too strict, or because there was no inclination anyway to reduce tariffs. The entries on trade policy in the Encyclopedia are here. Until the passing of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, the tariff levels prescribed by the 1930 Tariff Act were mandatory, and they could only be changed with the consent of Congress. The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Program’s importance for the multilateral trading system partly stems from the language included in some of the 32 bilateral agreements negotiated under it between 1934 and 1945. For example, all of the seventeen general clauses contained in the United States-Mexico bilateral trade agreement of December 1942 are reflected to a greater or lesser extent in the GATT. These include a most- favoured-nation clause, national treatment, agreed rules for the non- discriminatory application of quantitative restrictions, customs valuation, transparency, safeguards, etc. The tenor of the safeguards clause was changed considerably by a strengthened element of consultation. The entries on trade policy in the Encyclopedia are here. Other GATT articles drawing on this agreement contain additional principles reflecting the views of other trading countries. The 1934 Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, as amended, was superseded by the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. See also United States trade agreements legislation.[1]

United States Reciprocal Trade Agreements Programin the wold Encyclopedia

For an introductory overview on international trade policy, see this entry.

Resources

Notes and References

1. Dictionary of Trade Policy, “United States Reciprocal Trade Agreements Program” entry (OAS)

See Also