Navistar Inc. of Illinois
February 14, 2013
(ITA)
The Company
The Department of Commerce’s International
Trade Administration (ITA) has helped secure
market access for Illinois-based company,
Navistar Inc., so it can continue to sell
heavy-duty trucks in Chile. Navistar and other
U.S.-based truck manufacturers faced the
possibility of government-imposed trade
barriers which involved overly burdensome
emission standards that could have blocked
access to the Chilean market.
Why it Matters
This ITA action helped preserve the Chilean
export market for large trucks, like those
manufactured by Navistar, for the foreseeable
future. Reducing unnecessary and overly
burdensome regulatory barriers is a key issue
for transportation companies like Navistar as
they continue to leverage the benefits of the
U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement and expand
sales in foreign markets. If the United States
had not advocated against these
trade-restrictive emission standards under the
World Trade Organization’s Agreement on
Technical Barriers to Trade, Navistar and other
American trucks may have become less
competitive in Chile. Navistar sold over 1,000
trucks to Chile in 2011, which helped support
hundreds of American jobs. This number is
likely to grow for 2012.
The Problem
In July 2011, Navistar sought ITA’s assistance
in confronting a proposed regulation and
potential trade barrier in Chile. The Chilean
government proposed a regulation that would
have established an environmental standard for
heavy trucks which could only be met by using
an ultra-low sulfur fuel not readily available
in Chile. This could have cut Navistar and
other U.S. heavy-duty trucks out of the Chilean
market. The United States believed that
alternative standards were available to meet
Chile’s need for strong environmental
regulation while also reducing the potential to
restrict trade.
The Solution
Interventions by ITA and other U.S. government
representatives, including the act of raising
this issue at the WTO’s Technical Barriers to
Trade Committee, led Chile to adopt an
environmental standard compatible with diesel
fuel readily available throughout the country.
This solution protects both the environment in
Chile and secures market access for heavy-duty
trucks in the country.
Working closely with U.S. companies, ITA
creates, expands, and defends market access for
U.S. goods and services overseas through the
Trade Agreements Compliance Program. “We
promote policy that develops a more favorable
business climate for U.S. companies in global
markets; we employ commercial diplomacy to
resolve trade barriers; and we leverage our
bilateral and multilateral trade agreements to
ensure our trading partners live up to their
commitments so that our businesses can compete
on a level playing-field.” - Assistant
Secretary for Market Access and Compliance,
Michael C. Camuñez.
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