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Common Trade Problems
Common trade problems that U.S. companies have encountered and we have addressed. Are you facing a tariff or customs barrier? Are you experiencing difficulties with a foreign customs office that will not clear your goods to buyer/importer?  | Are your goods being classified under the wrong tariff schedule heading? |
| Are you having problems with a foreign customs office's documentation requirements? |
| Are you having problems with any consularization requirements? |
| Have your goods been rejected on the basis of a minimum or reference price? |
| Are the duties charged for your goods higher than what you expected? |
| Are you unable to locate an official public source of information for current data and information regarding a country's customs procedures? |
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Are you facing barriers to trade in services (GATS)? | Are all relevant measures (including new and existing laws, regulations, rules, procedures, decisions and administration actions) pertaining to or affecting trade in your company’s services published or made readily accessible? |
| Do you find registration requirements, licensing procedures, qualification requirements and procedures, and technical standards in a foreign market more burdensome for your company than for domestic service providers? |
| Are foreign laws administered in a reasonable and impartial manner? Do they discriminate against you as opposed to third party foreign service providers? |
| Has your company faced: |
| Quotas (direct access to labor) |
| Limitations on foreign capital participation |
| Limitations on the size or location of your establishment |
| Do you face restrictions in establishing or expanding a commercial presence (e.g. joint venture, branch, affiliate, representative office) to provide your service in a foreign market? |
| Do you experience foreign ownership limitations or limits on the number of company directors or managers in providing your service in overseas markets? |
| Do you face citizenship, nationality or residency requirements in providing your service in a foreign market? |
| Does your company experience limitations or restrictions on the temporary entry/mobility of key business personnel (including executives, managers and other skilled intercorporate transferees) in your business operations in foreign markets? |
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Are you facing a standards barrier in an export market? | Is the obstacle related to a government regulation, a mandatory standard or testing? |
| Does the barrier entail: |
| new standards |
| labeling requirements |
| burdensome testing |
| a national quality mark |
| certification requirements |
| additional costs |
| an unclear process |
| other |
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Are you facing sanitary and phytosanitary barriers to trade? | Do you face a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) barrier to trade, which has kept your food or agricultural product out of a specific export market? |
| Does the barrier entail: |
| additional testing |
| a risk assessment |
| a new regulation banning specific pests or addressing a health risk |
| labeling requirements |
| a national quality mark |
| certification requirements |
| additional costs |
| an unclear process |
| Does the regulation or testing requirement apply to only foreign companies? |
| Is the process to meet these requirements vague, unclear or not open to all stakeholders? |
| Is the time frame involved to meet testing or standard requirements unreasonable? |
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Do you have a problem related to rules of origin requirements? | Are you having a problem with a rules of origin certification requirement? |
| Are you having a problem with a rules of origin marking requirement? |
| Are you having a problem qualifying for rules of origin status? |
| Are you unable to locate a U.S. government certifying authority? |
| Are you experiencing difficulty related to differing rules of origin requirements in different markets? |
| Are you unable to locate an official public source of information for current data and information regarding a country's origin requirements? |
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Do you have a problem related to government procurement? | Are you prohibited from bidding on foreign government contracts? |
| Are there mandatory domestic content requirements or price preferences in foreign government tenders? |
| Are the bid deadlines too short to prepare and submit proposals? |
| Are you prohibited from applying to be on a qualified suppliers list? |
| Are there problems with procedures to challenge the winning bid; do you have problems getting these procedures? |
| Are the contract liabilities and guarantees too costly for your company to consider competing for contracts? |
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Do you have an intellectual property rights problem? | Is your patent, trademark, or copyright being used illegally in a foreign market? |
| Is your patent, trademark, or copyright protected under international law (the World Trade Organization's Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property - TRIPs, the Berne Convention, or the World Intellectual Property Organization - WIPO)? |
| Is your trademark considered a famous mark? |
| Do you have documentation or other proof of the patent, trademark, or copyright violation? |
| Are you unable to register the patent, trademark, or copyright with a foreign government? Are similar trademarks, patents, or copyrights registered in that country? |
| Have you trusted a foreign government with your intellectual property and has it passed your business confidential information, technology, or trade secrets onto a local company without your permission? Is the local company now your main competitor? |
| Is a foreign government not helping your agent, distributor, or wholly-owned subsidiary to stop your trademark, patent or copyright's violation? |
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Are you facing excessive government requirements or other market access barriers to trade? | Are you experiencing difficulties exporting because of subsidized local products? Is the foreign market dominated by a domestic company or controlled by monopolistic business practices? |
| Is the country restricting your product based upon its percent of foreign-owned content? |
| Is the country restricting your product because of its components/ingredients, structural composition, or product design? |
| Is your product facing shelf life restrictions in the foreign market? |
| Does a foreign country prohibit the importation of used goods? |
| Is your ability to export affected by the way your goods are classified in a foreign market? |
| Are your foreign wholesalers, retailers, or customers required to obtain certifications, licenses, or other burdensome documentation to sell/use your product in other countries? |
| Is a foreign country asking for your company to disclose proprietary product information before allowing your product to be imported? |
| Have customs duties on your product increased in a country? |
| Do you suffer from higher customs duties in a foreign market than your competitors? Are your exporting problems a result of the trade agreement benefits shared by other countries? |
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Do you have a problem related to import licensing? | Are there import licensing requirements/fees associated with obtaining an import license? |
| Is obtaining an import license a burdensome process? |
| Are you having problems learning where/how to obtain an import license? |
| Does it take a long time to receive approval for an import license? |
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Are you experiencing a problem related to your investment? | Has the government of the foreign country in which you have invested or plan to invest asked you to use local products? |
| Has the foreign government said that if you use, or promise to use, local products, it will reduce your taxes, or grant you some other benefit? |
| Has the foreign government asked or required you to achieve any balance in your firm's imports and exports or foreign exchange? |
| Is your foreign investment or investment proposal subject to rules, guidelines, or demands that are different from those applied to an investment by a national of that country or a national of a third country? |
| Have you been asked/ordered by foreign government officials to use in your production abroad products or other inputs from that country? |
| Have licenses that you need to operate your overseas investment operating been delayed or denied while other investments, owned by nationals or foreigners from third countries, don't have this problem? |
| Have you been denied or delayed the right to repatriate profits or other monies? |
| Has the foreign government expropriated/taken all or part of your investment? |
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