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(...) The United States is actively engaged in negotiations to liberalize trade further, notably in the form of the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA).

As stated in the President's 2016 Trade Policy Agenda, U.S. trade policy seeks to "promote growth, support well-paying jobs, and strengthen the middle class", with the intention to position the United States as "the world's production platform". In order to achieve these objectives, the United States is actively engaged in negotiations within the WTO framework (e.g. towards an Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA)), as well as in regional or plurilateral settings (e.g. towards the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) and the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA)).

Box 2.1 Trade negotiating objectives, 2015 TPA
Thirteen trade negotiating objectives of the United States are defined in the 2015 Trade Promotion Authority:
(...)
v. to ensure that trade and environmental policies are mutually supportive and to seek to protect and preserve the environment and enhance the international means of doing so, while optimizing the use of the world's resources;
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vii. to seek provisions in trade agreements under which parties to those agreements ensure that they do not weaken or reduce the protections afforded in domestic environmental and labour laws as an encouragement for trade;
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A trade advisory committee system channels input from U.S. public and private sector interests on trade policy and trade negotiating objectives. Advisory committee members represent the full span of interests including: manufacturing; agriculture; digital trade; intellectual property; services; small businesses; labour; environmental, consumer, and public health organizations; and state and local government. The system includes three tiers: (i) the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN); (ii) five policy advisory committees covering policy issues concerning agriculture, Africa, state and local government, labour, and environment; and (iii) 22 technical and sectoral advisory committees organized by two areas (i.e. agriculture and industry) (Table A2.1). The trade advisory committees provide information and advice on U.S. negotiating objectives, the operation of trade agreements, and other matters arising in connection with the development, implementation, and administration of U.S. trade policy. Each advisory committee is required to produce a report at the conclusion of negotiations for each trade agreement, and the reports are made available to the public on the USTR website.

The United States and 11 other parties signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement on 4 February 2016. The TPP Agreement has 30 chapters covering, inter alia, market access for goods and services, rules of origin, SPS and TBT issues, investment, government procurement, intellectual property rights, labour, and the environment. Several provisions are "new" in the sense that they have not been included in other U.S. FTAs, such as provisions on state-owned enterprises (SOEs), environmental conservation, biologic drugs, regulatory coherence, capacity-building, competitiveness, and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

(…) Restrictions on foreign ownership principally apply in specific areas such as: atomic energy operations; oil pipeline right of way; the mining of coal and certain minerals, or petroleum exploration; and certain fishing operations. (…)

The United States has a system of international investment agreements built on trade and investment framework agreements (TIFAs), bilateral investment treaties (BITs), and free trade agreements with investment chapters. According to the authorities, trade and investment framework agreements (TIFAs) are generally the first step in establishing stronger trade and investment links with a country. TIFAs contain details regarding consultation procedures and cooperation between the United States and its partners on a broad range of issues, including market access, labour, and the environment. The United States currently has 55 TIFAs in force.

(...) Most MFN rates are identical to their bound levels and have remained virtually unchanged for 10 years or more. [31] (...)

[31] APEC leaders agreed to cut tariffs on certain environmental goods in 2012. In the United States, the general rate of duty was reduced to 5% on six tariff lines with effect from 31 December 2015 (Proclamation 9384 of 23 December 2015).

Table 3.5 Federal excise taxes
Fund/subject Products
Trust funds
Highway Trust Fund Petrol, diesel, and alcohol fuels; ethanol, liquid fuel, ethanol, methanol, bio-diesel, CNG, LPG, LNG, other special fuels, highway tractors, heavy trucks, trailers, tyres for heavy vehicles, highway use by heavy vehicles
Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Excise Tax Certain fuels; methanol and ethanol fuels produced from coal
Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund Crude oil and imported petroleum products
Land and Water Conservation Fund Bows and arrows, regular firearms and ammunition, motorboat fuel
(...)
General funds
Ozone-depleting chemicals Certain CFC and related chemicals
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United States' fisheries legislation, in particular the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act (MSRA) of 2006 and the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015 (which amended the High Seas Driftnet Fishing Moratorium Protection Act), provides a framework for addressing concerns regarding illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, bycatch of protected living marine resources, and shark conservation. Under the Moratorium Protection Act, the Secretary of Commerce, in a report to Congress, is required to identify countries whose fishing vessels have been engaged in (i) IUU fishing, (ii) bycatch of protected living marine resources where a nation has not adopted a regulatory programme to address the conservation of sharks that is comparable to that of the United States, or (iii) fishing activities on the high seas that target or incidentally catch sharks where the nation has not adopted a regulatory programme to address the conservation of sharks that is comparable to that of the United States. The identified countries are certified following a two-year consultative process. A negative certification results in the imposition of port restrictions and potential import restrictions on fish and fish products. [50]

[50] The 2015 report to Congress provided positive certifications for all ten countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Ghana, Italy, Korea (Rep. of), Mexico, Panama, Spain, Tanzania, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)) included in the previous report, as having strengthened their laws or regulations, enforcement, and monitoring systems. Simultaneously, the report identified six countries (Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and Portugal) with vessels engaged in IUU fishing in 2013 and 2014 and thus to be subject to consultations and certification. Viewed at: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia/iuu/msra_page/2015noaareptcongress.pdf. The authority for preparation of the biennial report has been delegated from the Secretary of Commerce to the NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is scheduled to issue its next report in January 2017.