Understanding The US Trade Representative

The Office of the US Trade Representative is an important agency within the Executive Office of the President. The Office of the US Trade Representative has, as its purpose, an advisory position with regard to trade negotiations and trade policy. In other words, the Office of the US Trade Representative is meant to advise the executive branch on matters of trading and trade policy. The trade in question is trade with over nations and countries.

The Office of the US Trade Representative is thus an office which is very much concerned with foreign and international affairs, particularly as one of the primary functions of the Office of the US Trade Representative is to provide the Special 301 Report every year for the executive branch. The Special 301 Report of the Office of the US Trade Representative is a report which is meant to establish those nations that are regarded as unfavorable markets for American trade and business. Reasons for such a distinction include:limited access and an inadequate observance of human rights.


The Special 301 Report of the Office of the US Trade Representative also has a particular emphasis upon how the nations in question treat intellectual property rights. The executive branch can then take the recommendations made by the Office of the US Trade Representative under advisement when it is determining the trading policy for the nation as a whole.

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