Marking

Letters, numbers, and other symbols placed on cargo packages to facilitate identification.

Marks of Origin

The physical markings on a product that indicate the country of origin where the article was produced. Customs rules require marks of origin of most countries.

Matchmaker Events

Matchmaker trade delegations are organized and led by the International Trade Administration to help new-to-export and new-to-market firms meet prescreened prospects who are interested in their products or services in overseas markets. Matchmaker delegations usually target two major country markets in two countries and limit trips to two weeks or less. This approach is designed to permit U.S. firms to interview a maximum number of prospective overseas business partners with a minimum of time away from their home office. The program includes U.S. embassy support, briefings on market requirements and business practices, and interpreters’ services. Matchmaker events, based on specific product themes and end-users, are scheduled for a limited number of countries each year.

Merchandise Trade Balance. See: Balance of Payments.

Military Assistance Program. See: Conventional Arms Transfer.

Missile Technology Control Regime

The purpose of the MTCR is to limit the proliferation of missiles “capable of delivering nuclear weapons,” to increase regional stability, and to convey publicly the firm resolve of the partners to address this issue. In April 1987, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. agreed to establish the MTCR. The regime expanded to include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Spain. The MTCR does not have permanent organizations but convenes regular meetings to exchange information and coordinate member country stands. Under the MTCR, each member administers missile-related export controls independently. After the MTCR agrees that certain goods and technologies should be controlled for missile proliferation reasons, each member must implement the controls in its own domestic legislation. There is no international entity that oversees the implementation and enforcement of MTCR controls. Items and technology agreed by the MTCR partners to be controlled are listed in the MTCR Annex. The Annex is divided into two groups: Category I (consisting of complete rocket and unmanned air vehicle systems and subsystems) and Category II (encompassing components, equipment, technology, materials used in missile design, development, production or use).

Mixed Credit

Mixed credit refers to the practice of combining concessional and market-rate export credit as an export promotion mechanism.

Most Favored Nation Treatment (MFN)

A commitment that a country will extend to another country the lowest tariff rates it applies to any other country. All contracting parties undertake to apply such treatment to one another under Article I of GATT. When a country agrees to cut tariffs on a particular product imported from any other country eligible for most-favored nation treatment. This principle of non-discriminatory treatment of imports appeared in numerous bilateral trade agreements prior to the establishment of GATT. A country is under no obligation to extend MFN treatment to another country unless both are bilateral contracting parties of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or MFN treatment is specified in a bilateral agreement.

Multi-Fiber Arrangement

An international umbrella compact, authorized by GATT, that allows contracting parties to negotiate bilaterally quantitative restrictions on textile imports (which normally would be considered contrary to GATT provisions) to the extent the importing country considers them necessary to prevent market disruption. The MFA provides that such restrictions should not reduce imports to levels below those attained during the preceding year. Bilateral agreements usually allow for import growth tied to anticipated greater demand.

Multilateral Agreement

An international compact in which three or more parties participate.

Multilateral Investment Fund

Under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative, the fund complements the Inter-American Development Bank. The fund provides program and project grants to advance specific, market- oriented investment policy initiatives and reforms and encourages domestic and foreign investment in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Multilateral Trade Negotiations

A term describing eight multilateral rounds of negotiations held under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade since 1947.

NAFTA – See: North American Free Trade Agreement

NAICS – See: North American Industry Classification System

National Processing Center

The U.S. Census Bureau’s official center for keying various government documents, such as CF-214, CF-7501 and the SEDs.

National Security Controls

National security controls restrict exports of U.S. goods and technology which would make a significant contribution to the military potential of another country and thus be detrimental to Western countries’ national security.

National Security Council

The NSC was established by the National Security Act of 1947 to advise the President with respect to the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to national security.

National Security Directives

NSDs provide policy or procedural guidance and are signed by the President. In 1989, the President reorganized the national security council committee process (separate from the EARB). As reorganized under the NSC, there are committees for CoCom, terrorism, non-proliferation, etc. NSDs were known as National Security Decision Directives, NSDDs, before President Bush’s reorganization. NSD-l reorganized the process; NSD-lO established the committees. The scope of coverage and the players are about the same under NSD and NSDD processes.

National Security Directive #53

NSD-53 deals with the export licensing process and sets specified time periods for resolving disputes on both national security and foreign policy export license applications. Under NSD-53, exports controlled on both of these grounds are subject to explicit time tables for interagency dispute resolution at the Sub-Cabinet level by the Advisory Committee on Export Policy (ACEP), and at the Cabinet level by the Export Administration Review Board (EARB). The Directive requires escalation to the ACEP not later than 100 days from the filing date of the applicant’s application, and if the disagreement cannot be resolved by the ACEP, for review and resolution by the BARB within 35 days of the date of the ACEP meeting. Cases not resolved by the EARB must be escalated to the President for resolution. The new procedures also permit an agency to refer a case at any stage of the dispute resolution process to the NSC for a 30 day policy review.

National Security Override

In some cases, despite a finding of foreign availability of a controlled commodity, control is maintained over exporting the commodity because it is deemed a national security sensitive item. The term national security override is used to describe this circumstance. The term has also been used in other contexts. For example, under a November 16, 1990 directive, the President tasked the interagency control groups to move as many dual use items from the State Department’s International Munitions List to the Commerce Department’s Control List. In some circumstances, a national security override is applied to prevent transfer of a particular item.

National Trade Data Bank

The NTDB contains international economic and export promotion information supplied by 15 U.S. agencies. Data are updated monthly and are presented in one of three standard formats: text, time series, or matrix. The NTDB contains data from the Department of Agriculture (Foreign Agricultural Service), Commerce (Bureau of the Census, Bureau of Economic Analysis, International Trade Administration, and the National Institute for Standard and Technology), Energy, Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics), the Central Intelligence Agency, Eximbank, Federal Reserve System, U.S. International Trade Commission, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Small Business Administration, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the University of Massachusetts (MISER data on state origins of exports).

National Trade Estimates Report

An annual report by UTSR that identifies foreign barriers to and distortions of trade.

Net Foreign Investment

Net foreign investment is the sum of U.S. exports of goods and services, receipts of factor income, and capital grants received by the United States (net), less the sum of imports of goods and services by the United States, payments of factor income, and transfer payments to foreigners (net). It may also be viewed as the acquisition of foreign assets by U.S. residents, less the acquisition of U.S. assets by foreign residents. It includes the BPA statistical discrepancy.

Newly Industrializing Companies

The term, originated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), describes nations of the Third World that have enjoyed rapid economic growth and can be described as “middle-income” countries (such as Singapore and the Republic of Korea).