Office of the United States Trade Representative
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The Office of the United States Trade Representative, or USTR, is the United States government agency responsible for developing and recommending United States trade policy to the President of the United States, conducting trade negotiations at bilateral and multilateral levels, and coordinating trade policy within the government through the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) and Trade Policy Review Group (TPRG). Established as the Office of the Special Trade Representative (STR) under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the USTR is part of the Executive Office of the President. With over 200 employees, the USTR has offices in Geneva, Switzerland, and Brussels, Belgium.

Staff

The head of the office holds the title of United States Trade Representative (USTR), which is a Cabinet-level position (though not technically within the Cabinet). The United States Trade Representative and Deputy United States Trade Representatives (DUSTR) carry the title of Ambassador.

On March 17, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Congressman Rob Portman as USTR, and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 29, 2005.

On April 18, 2006, Bush appointed USTR Portman to be his Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), replacing Joshua B. Bolten, who the previous week replaced Andrew Card as White House Chief of Staff. Bush immediately nominated Susan Schwab, the deputy USTR under Portman, to replace Portman as USTR; Schwab was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in June 2006.

In October 2006, eight former Trade Representatives endorsed the mission of the Capital-to-Capital Coalition, which is working to establish a non-stop flight between Washington, DC and Beijing, China.

The Special 301 Report

Since the early 1980s, the USTR has played a key role in the expansion of intellectual property laws worldwide, and monitored efforts by other governments to protect IP rights. To this end the USTR issues an annual Special 301 Report which "examines in detail the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights" in many countries around the world. Countries may be designated in the categories of Priority Foreign Country, Section 306 Monitoring, Priority Watch List, or Watch List.

List of United States Trade Representatives

See also

• Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
• Doha Round
• Generalized System of Preferences
• International Trade Administration
• International Trade Commission
• United States Commercial Service
• World Trade Organization

External links

• USTR website
• 2005 Special 301 Report (pdf)

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