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Reasons for the determination and other decisions by the USTR under Special 301
- The level of intellectual property protection and market access provided by U.S. trading partners was reviewed by the USTR with the advice of the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee, the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks and the Register of Copyrights.
- The standard for adequate and effective intellectual property protection is set forth in the U.S. proposal on intellectual property, tabled in the GATT negotiations on intellectual property.
- After interagency review, the USTR concludes that no country satisfies all of the standards for adequate and effective protection of intellectual property. The countries appearing on the Priority Watch List and the Watch List share deficiencies in intellectual property protection or maintain substantial impediments to market access.
- Thus, the USTR has determined that all countries could be eligible for potential priority designation, based on the U.S. GATT proposal, because all countries "deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights" within the meaning of the statute.
- Those practices of particular concern have been communicated to each trading partner and delineated in the National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report.
- Since May 1989, our trading partners have entered into good faith negotiations and are making significant progress in bilateral or multilateral negotiations to provide adequate and effective protection for intellectual property.
- Thus, USTR has decided not to identify any trading partners as "priority foreign countries" under the statute.
- In line with previous actions, the USTR decided to continue the Watch List and Priority Watch List of trading partners identified for further consultation and action.
Watch List
- Nineteen trading partners were identified whose intellectual property-related practices or barriers to market access required special attention, thus placing them on the Watch List.
