The Trade and Development Act of 2000 created two new positions within the USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator and Assistant United States Trade Representative for African Affairs. The chief negotiator for agriculture`s primary task is to conduct trade negotiations and impose trade agreements on U.S. agricultural interests and products. AUSTR for African Affairs is the senior advisor to the U.S. Trade representative on trade and investment with Africa and acts as coordinator and interlocutor in government on these issues. In the 1970s, Congress significantly expanded the tasks of the STR. Section 141 of the Trade Act of 1974 provided for a charter of the Str Act. as part of the Executive Office of the President, which made him responsible for trade agreement programs under the Tariff Act of 1930, the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and the 1974 Act. The law also held STR directly responsible for these and other business tasks, both with respect to the President and Congress, and appointed the Special Representative for Trade Relations at the cabinet level.
The authority of the USTR was further strengthened by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. Section 1601 of the 1988 legislation codified and expanded the jurisdiction of the USTR. The law strengthened the partnership between Congress and the executive branch for the implementation of U.S. trade policy. The additional responsibilities of the USTR, as enumerated in the 1988 Act, are: the United States is a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO agreement) contains rules for trade among the 154 WTO members. The United States and other WTO members are currently participating in the WTO negotiations on development in Doha and a strong and open Doha agreement on both goods and services would go a long way in managing the global economic crisis and restoring the role of trade in promoting economic growth and development. Detailed descriptions and texts of many U.S. trade agreements can be accessed through the Left Resource Center. USTR is primarily responsible for the management of U.S. trade agreements. These include monitoring the implementation of trade agreements with the United States by our trading partners, the application of U.S.
rights under those agreements, and the negotiation and signing of trade agreements that advance the President`s trade policy. The USTR authorized the USTR to set U.S. policy on important trade issues, such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and “the Enforcement and Protection of U.S. Rights under all bilateral and multilateral agreements on international trade and raw materials.” The USTR shares with the Ministry of Commerce responsibility for the government`s monitoring of foreign government compliance with trade agreements. In 1963, President Kennedy established a new office of the Special Representative for Trade (STR) in the President`s Executive Office and appointed two new deputies, one in Washington, D.C. and the other in Geneva, Switzerland.