US International Trade Commission readies fact-finding study for EU exports by small companies

In Washington, the U.S. International Trade Commission is preparing a fact-finding study entitled Trade Barriers that U.S. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Perceive as Affecting Exports to the European Union (Inv. No. 332-541).

The study, requested by the United States Trade Representative, will catalogue trade-related barriers that U.S. SMEs perceive as disproportionately affecting their exports to the EU, compared to those of larger U.S. exporters to the EU. SMEs are defined as companies with fewer than 500 employees. The Commission will submit the report to the USTR January 31, 2014.  See the Commission’s Federal Register notice for information about the study and the related deadlines.

The USITC commented, “In the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, we will seek to strengthen U.S.-European Union cooperation to enhance the participation of SMEs in transatlantic trade, and to address trade barriers that may disproportionately impact small businesses. We are seeking broad input on these matters through our domestic consultation process. Building on previous USITC reports that investigated the role of U.S. SMEs in trade and generally identified trade barriers that may disproportionately impact U.S. SME export
performance, I believe that the USITC can also be helpful to us in identifying such barriers in the EU.”

More information is also available in the request letter and the Commission’s news release (available on the Commission’s website is here. You can also contact Elizabeth Nesbitt (202-205-3355 or [email protected]).