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Afrocenter Glossary of Business Terms | |
| BINATIONAL PANEL Context is: trade term. A panel established under the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement to assist in the resolution of trade disputes. Subsequently incorporated into the North American Free Trade Agreement, review by the binational panel is the principal mechanism to settle disputes among or between the United States, Canada, and Mexico arising from antidumping duty, countervailing duty, and final injury determinations. Chapter 19 of the NAFTA proffers the binational panel review as an alternative to judicial review. To this end, in article 1904, the signatories have established rules of procedure, as well as an "extraordinary challenge procedure," to safeguard against any panel impropriety or gross error. In addition, article 1903 provides the opportunity for a party to request that any amendment to another party's antidumping or countervailing duty law be referred to a panel for a declaratory opinion on whether the amendment is consistent with the NAFTA. See also Bilateral Trade Agreement; Dispute Settlement; North American Free Trade Agreement; U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement; U.S.-Canada Trade Commission. | |
| CAIP - Community Adjustment and Investment Program Context is: business term. The United States Community Adjustment and Investment Program was created to help communities that suffered job losses due to changing trade patterns with Mexico and Canada following the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The CAIP promotes economic implementation of the adjustment by increasing the availability and flow of credit and encourages business development and expansion in impacted areas. Through the CAIP, credit is available to businesses in eligible communities to create new, sustainable jobs or to preserve existing jobs. More... | |
| COMMON EXTERNAL TARIFF (CET or sometimes CXT) Context is: trade term. A tariff rate uniformly applied by a common market or customs union, such as the European Community, to imports from countries outside the union. For example, the European internal market is based on the principle of a free internal trade area with a common external tariff [sometimes referred to in French as the Tariff Extérieur Commun (TEC)] applied to products imported from non-member countries. "Free trade areas" do not necessarily have common external tariffs, and free trade agreements seldom have common external tariffs. See also Customs; Customs Area; Customs Union; European Community; Free Trade Area Agreement; Free Trade Area of the Americas; Free Zone; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Kyoto Convention; MERCOSUR; North American Free Trade Agreement; Tariff; Tariff Schedules; Trade Diversion; U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. | |
| COMMUNITY ADJUSTMENT AND INVESTMENT PROGRAM (CAIP) Context is: business term. The United States Community Adjustment and Investment Program was created to help communities that suffered job losses due to changing trade patterns with Mexico and Canada following the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The CAIP promotes economic implementation of the adjustment by increasing the availability and flow of credit and encourages business development and expansion in impacted areas. Through the CAIP, credit is available to businesses in eligible communities to create new, sustainable jobs or to preserve existing jobs. The CAIP works with the SBA in both their 7(a) Loan Guarantee Program and 504 Program to reduce borrower costs and increase the availability of these proven business assistance programs. More... | |
| CUSTOMS AREA Context is: trade term. A geographic area, usually but not necessarily identical to one or several contiguous national political jurisdictions, applying a particular tariff schedule on goods entering or leaving the area. See also Common External Tariff; Customs; Customs Union; European Community; Free Trade Area Agreement; Free Trade Area of the Americas; Free Zone; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Kyoto Convention; MERCOSUR; North American Free Trade Agreement; Tariff; Tariff Schedules; Trade Diversion; U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. | |
| CUSTOMS UNION Context is: trade term. A group of nations that have eliminated tariffs and sometimes other barriers that impede trade with each other, while maintaining a common external tariff on goods imported from outside the union. GATT Article XXIV defines the meaning of a customs union in GATT and the application of other GATT provisions to customs unions. See also Common External Tariff; Customs Area; Customs; European Community; Free Trade Area Agreement; Free Trade Area of the Americas; Free Zone; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Kyoto Convention; MERCOSUR; North American Free Trade Agreement; Tariff; Tariff Schedules; Trade Diversion; U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement; Welfare. | |
| DIRECT INVESTMENT Context is: trade term. Defined in the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payments Manual as "investment that is made to acquire a lasting interest in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor, the investor's purpose being to have an effective voice in the management of the enterprise." The United States defines direct investment in different ways depending on the legal and factual context in which the term is used. For example, the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act defines direct investment as "the ownership or control, directly or indirectly, by one person of 10 percent or more of the voting securities of an incorporated business enterprise or an equivalent interest in an unincorporated business enterprise." Other statutes and international agreements to which the United States is a party use different definitions. See also Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures; Balance of Payments; Bilateral Investment Treaty; Capital Account; Foreign Investment; Framework Agreement; Industrial Policy; International Monetary Fund; Investment Performance Requirements; Multilateral Agreement on Investment; Multilateral Investment Fund; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency; National Treatment; North American Development Bank; Overseas Private Investment Corporation; Performance Requirements; Right of Establishment; Trade-Related Investment Measures. | |
| DISPUTE SETTLEMENT Context is: trade term. In the trade context, dispute settlement usually refers to procedures for consultation, conciliation, and possible referral to a neutral third party of a dispute between parties to a trade agreement. GATT articles XXII and XXIII contain provisions for consultations and for the GATT contracting parties to make recommendations and rulings in particular disputes. Under the auspices of the WTO, the Understanding on Rules and Procedures on Governing the Settlement of Disputes was concluded to strengthen the procedures established by the GATT. In addition, the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement contain detailed procedures for the settlement of disputes arising under those agreements. See also Arbitration; Article 23 (GATT Article XXIII); Binational Panel; Codes of Conduct; Compensation; Consultations; Framework Agreement; Government Procurement Policies and Practices; North American Free Trade Agreement; Panel of Experts; Tokyo Round; Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes; Uruguay Round; U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement; World Trade Organization. | |
| EAST-WEST TRADE Context is: trade term. Referred to trade between the former Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Eastern Europe (East) on the one hand, and the developed market economy countries of Western Europe, North America, and Japan on the other (West). See also Countertrade; Nonmarket Economy. | |
| ELECTRONIC FEDERAL TAX PAYMENT SYSTEM (EFTPS) Context is: business term. Electronic Federal Tax Payment System, provides an electronic system for paying federal taxes. The IRS replaced the current system of processing taxes in compliance with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) mandates, and now expedite the availability of funds and investment decision making information to the U.S. Treasury while providing flexible payment options to the business taxpayer More... | |
| FAST TRACK Context is: trade term. Procedures enacted by the U.S. Congress under which it votes without amendment and within a fixed period on legislation submitted by the president to approve and implement U.S. international trade agreements. The procedures apply only if the president consulted with the Congress as the agreement was negotiated and fulfilled other statutory requirements. Fast track procedures were used in negotiating the Tokyo Round agreements; the United States-Israel Free Trade Area Agreement; the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement; the North American Free Trade Agreement; and the Uruguay Round agreements. In 1997, Congress failed to renew fast track authority. See also Multilateral Trade Negotiations; North American Free Trade Agreement; Tokyo Round; U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement; U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Agreement; Uruguay Round. | |
| FREE TRADE AREA AGREEMENT Context is: trade term. An agreement between two or more countries to eliminate tariff and nontariff barriers affecting trade among themselves, while each participating country applies its own independent schedule of tariffs to imports from countries that are not members. Examples are the European Community, the European Free Trade Association, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Agreement, and the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. GATT Article XXIV spells out the meaning of a free trade area in GATT and specifies the applicability of the other GATT provisions to free trade areas. See also Common External Tariff; Customs; Customs Area; Customs Union; European Community; European Free Trade Association; Free Trade Area of the Americas; Free Zone; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Kyoto Convention; MERCOSUR; North American Free Trade Agreement; Tariff; Tariff Schedules; Trade Diversion; U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. | |
| FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS (FTAA) Context is: trade term. A planned hemisphere-wide free trade area, the Free Trade Area of the Americas will consist of North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean, will include nearly 800 million people, and, upon completion no later than 2005, will be the largest free trade market in the world, stretching from the northernmost regions of Canada to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The comprehensive trade agreement will cover, inter alia, tariffs, nontariff barriers, customs procedures, rules of origin, agriculture, intellectual property rights, government procurement, subsidies, services, investment, trade remedies, product standards, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, competition policy, and dispute settlement. See also Common External Tariff; Customs; Customs Area; Customs Union; European Community; European Free Trade Association; Free Trade Area Agreement; Free Zone; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Kyoto Convention; MERCOSUR; North American Free Trade Agreement; Summits of the Americas; Tariff; Tariff Schedules; Trade Diversion; U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. | |
| INDUSTRY Context is: business term. Concerns primarily engaged in the same kind of economic activity are classified in the same industry regardless of their types of ownership (such as sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation). The US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) classifies approximately 1,000 activities as industries under NAICS. For each industry, except those in the Sector of public administration, SBA has established a size standard. Industries are described in detail in North American Industry Classification System United States, 1997. It can be found in many libraries or purchased from the National Technical Information Service, by calling (800) 553-6847 or (703) 605-6000. | |
| MERCOSUR Context is: trade term. The Spanish abbreviation for Mercado Común del Sur (Southern Common Market). Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay officially inaugurated MERCOSUR in January 1991. On January 1, 1995, MERCOSUR designated itself as a customs union by establishing a common external tariff covering 85 percent of traded goods. MERCOSUR will gradually phase in coverage of the CET through 2006, when all products should be covered by the customs union. Chile became an associate member of MERCOSUR on October 1, 1996, and Bolivia did the same on April 1, 1997. Neither country participates in the CET. See also Common External Tariff; Customs; Customs Area; Customs Union; European Community; European Free Trade Association; Free Trade Area Agreement; Free Trade Area of the Americas; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Kyoto Convention; North American Free Trade Agreement; Tariff; Tariff Schedules; Trade Diversion; U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. | |
