US Commerce Research Articles

Resolving the Double Remedy Dispute: A Critique of the WTO Appellate Body’s Decision in United States - Definitive Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties on Certain Products from China

On March 29, 2007, the United States Department of Commerce (Commerce) reversed its long-standing policy prohibiting the application of countervailing duties against non-market economy countries. Consequently, Commerce began to apply countervailing duties to products from China and Vietnam that were also subject to antidumping duties. China challenged the new U.S. practice before a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel. China argued that Commerce’s actions were inconsistent with the United States’ WTO obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994), the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement), the Antidumping Agreement (AD Agreement), and the Protocol on the Accession of the People’s Republic of China (Accession Protocol). China argued that Commerce’s application of both countervailing and antidumping duties resulted in a “double remedy” for the U.S. industry, specifically that the effect of Commerce’s methodology for determining antidumping duties against non-market economy countries was to offset the same instance of subsidization twice — once through the imposition of the countervailing duty and again through the application of the antidumping duty. Although the Panel found that a double remedy was “likely,” it held that “China did not establish that the United States acted inconsistently with its obligations under … the SCM Agreement.” China appealed the latter conclusion, along with other aspects of the Panel decision, to the WTO Appellate Body (AB). The AB reversed the Panel Report’s conclusion — but haphazardly provided an attempted solution to the double remedy dispute in a section, titled “The Completion of the Analysis”. This Note is about the AB’s decision, particularly the “Completion of the Analysis” section. The AB held that the application of concurrent duties that offset the same subsidization twice is not consistent with Article 19.3 of the SCM Agreement because that article requires that an investigating authority collect countervailing duties “in the appropriate amounts.” But in doing so, the AB concluded that an investigating authority has an affirmative obligation under the SCM Agreement to ascertain the amount by which a countervailed subsidy lowers the export price of a product, which depends on whether and to what extent domestic subsidies have “passed through” to the export price. As such, the investigating authority has to take the necessary steps to adjust its methodology to take account of this factual situation, including the degree of pass-through of the subsidy. The AB’s decision has had a powerful and ongoing effect, leading to the United States Congress’s March 2012 passage of “An Act to Apply the Countervailing Duty Provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 to Nonmarket Economy Countries, and for Other Purposes” and extensive changes in Commerce’s administrative practice for extant and newly filed trade cases. The new controversial practices are now again before the WTO’s AB to determine their consistency with the decision that this Note addresses. The AB’s Completion of the Analysis poses several questions. Must an investigating authority adjust for pass-through in both the countervailing and antidumping calculations, the countervailing duty set equal only to the portion of the subsidy passed through to export price, the antidumping calculation then adjusting for the double remedy still represented in a diminished countervailing duty? Does the AB’s decision account for the U.S. law that requires that the amount of the countervailing duty must be equal to the amount of subsidy that is found to exist, making a countervailing duty adjustment under U.S. law impossible? In order to meet its WTO obligations, should the United States return to its long standing policy of prohibiting the imposition of countervailing duties to non-market economies? This Note argues that the Completion of the Analysis neither factually nor legally solves the double remedy dispute. Part II provides background on U.S. countervailing and antidumping duty law. Part III introduces the double remedy dispute in greater detail, examines the AB’s analysis of the double remedy issue, and illustrates its failure to factually and legally solve the double remedy dispute. Part IV suggests three adjustments to the United States’ countervailing and antidumping methodologies that might resolve the double remedy dispute. Part V concludes.

Evaluating the impact of early versus late inpatient palliative care consultation for cancer patients.

6638 Background: Access to specialist palliative care (hospital-based or hospice) is a recognized measure of quality in cancer care. Most cancer centers do have palliative care consult services, although the availability of a comprehensive program that includes a palliative care unit and outpatient clinic (Hui 2010) is inconsistent. A simultaneous integrated model of palliative care that facilitates earlier access to a specialized palliative care team may improve clinical outcomes. Palliative care programs should measure the access, timing and impact of their clinical service. Methods: Hospital claims data were linked to Social Security Death Index (SSDI) data from the US Department of Commerce. 3,128 adult cancer patients died between January 2009 and July 2011 and had contact with our inpatient palliative care team in their last six months of life. We determined whether IPC earlier than 1 month prior to death had an impact on hospitalizations, in-hospital mortality and referral to hospice. Results: 27.5% of cancer decedents accessed IPC, median of 22 days before death. 13.2% were discharged to hospice, median of 13 days before death. Patients with IPC earlier than 1 month until death were more likely to have hospice and fewer in-hospital deaths but there was no association between early IPC and a 30-day mortality admission. Conclusions: Palliative care services are accessed by a minority of patients and typically in the last 2-3 weeks of life. Although in-hospital deaths were reduced by earlier palliative care consultation, 30 day mortality did not improve. Hospitals may need to implement other strategies including early integration of outpatient palliative care among cancer patients, to achieve an impact on 30-day mortality admissions. [Table: see text]

Country reputation and performance: The role of public relations and news media

Using agenda-building and agenda-setting as theoretical framework, this study examined the relationship that international public relations and US news media coverage have with public opinion of foreign countries and their economic performance. The study analyzed 598 press releases from 30 countries, 488 news media articles and public opinion data from the 2009 Anholt's Nation Brands Index (NBI). In addition, foreign trade and tourism figures from the US Department of Commerce were examined. The findings supported both first- and second-level agenda-building and agenda-setting effects. Further, the study identified effective areas for public relations to highlight in press releases about a country to help inform the practice of country reputation management and nation branding.

A Call for Investment in Education of US Minorities in the 21st Century

A Call for Investment in Education of US Minorities in the 21st Century

Small business participation in the advanced technology program research alliances

This study uses a database of small businesses that participated in the US Department of Commerce's Advanced Technology Program (ATP) to observe the role of research alliances in undertaking high-risk technology research and development. The initial hypothesis is that small businesses benefit from membership in research alliances. This study examines two forms of research alliances: single applicants with subcontractor(s) and membership in a joint venture. The basis for the analysis includes data collected during the term of the project. Using data collected at project end provides a limited view of success as commercial achievements may come much later, and small businesses may derive advantages from participating in alliances not captured in the variables used. In light of this, the findings point to successful participation in ATP for small businesses as being dependent upon the type of organizational structure chosen as well as the role played by the small business in the research alliance. For example, assuming the role of the joint venture lead contributed to more successful technical and business outcomes.

Innovation and Inauguration

As the time of this writing, the United States presidential election is less than 30 days away. Rhetoric is running high about national policy issues, ranging from immigration policy to healthcare reform. Whether one was influenced by the policy stances of the presidential candidates, the Romney–Obama debates, or the Jon Stewart–Bill O’Reilly face-off, the stakes for national healthcare policy could not be higher. Keen observers of health policy are aware of the magnitude of what’s at issue: The health of the nation is imperiled, with growing obesity, chronic disease and an aging population. The healthcare safety net is fragmented, and the “have–have not” divide grows wider. Health care expenditures in 2010 (the last set of National Health Expenditure Accounts, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS], January 2012) was close to $2.6 trillion, with a current gross domestic product of $15.6 trillion for a population of 315 million individuals (US Department of Commerce, Sept-Oct 2012). As Bodenheimer has pointed out, healthy individuals account for only 3% of total health costs, while 10% of the population accounts for 70% of national health expenditures. Yet, there may be some room for optimism about the financial health of the nation’s healthcare. Over the past 2 years, the healthcare cost curve seems to have tilted downward, with excess growth reduced by 1% in 2011 in Roerhig’s latest analysis. This downward trend may be due to cyclic factors (recession with decreased insured individuals) or structural factors (changing physician practice and employment patterns, patient cost-sharing, stable insurance premiums, patent expiration and generic medication use). Additionally, new care models and novel partnerships may also contribute to cost-savings, promoting health and increasing care coordination. This month in JGIM, we explore a series of innovations, and their implications for patient care. Mitchell and colleagues1 evaluate a public–private partnership around health—a collaboration between Tennessee Medicaid and Weight Watchers, in which 1,605 individuals were enrolled in a weight management program, with 20% losing over 5% of their original weight. As Bleich and Herring2 discuss in the accompanying editorial, the cost to Medicaid was a nominal $19 for an introductory session, and $11 for follow-up sessions, with patient co-pays of $1. Such programs are as cost-effective as bariatric surgery, and more cost-effective than medication management. Next, Schnurr and colleagues3 remind us that care interventions need to be sufficiently potent and durable to move the health care outcomes needle. In a randomized trial of 195 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at four Veterans Affairs facilities, patients with telephone care management (in addition to usual care) had more mental health visits and were more likely to fill prescriptions, but experienced no differences in symptoms or functioning. Howard’s4 study also cautions policy-makers to think closely about the implications of electronic health record (EHR) implementation. In her study of small community-based primary care practices, she found physician’s workload increased during EHR charting and patient-care tasks, while support staff work and patient flow improved. Several articles in this issue explore issues around the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Initiative. In an ideal setting, the well-implemented PCMH involves re-organizing medical care around the patient experience; includes a set of standards (linked to increased federal funding) that track, coordinate and report patient outcomes over time; connects patients to a personal physician; and improves inter-professional collaboration and team-based care. The article by Braddock and colleagues5 explores the ethical dimensions of the PCMH, including their strengths and limitations, viewed through the lens of Beauchamps and Childress’ principles of medical ethics: respect for autonomy, beneficence, justice and nonmaleficence. In their accompanying editorial, Wynia and Sabin6 extend Braddock et al.’s argument to explore issues around the practical implementation of these ethical principles and how current medical culture may promote or inhibit acceptance of PCMH concepts. Work by Alexander and colleagues7 reinforces the need for practical touchstones around PCMH implementation. They conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with representatives from physician organizations and primary care practices who were in the process of pursuing PCMH designation. They found that provider motivation to adopt PCMH measures were heavily influenced by perceived administrative burden, misalignment of reimbursement schemas, perceptions of control over their working environment, and uncertainty of healthcare reforms. By the time you read this piece, the next US president will have been chosen. If President Obama is re-elected, his administration will face the challenge of implementing the broad reforms outlined in the Affordable Care Act. If Governor Romney is the people’s choice, he will have to decide what to preserve and what to dismantle. Either way, solid research, including careful evaluation of “innovations” that may or may not work as promised, will be needed to light the way forward. We would like to think that some of that work will be published in JGIM.

Commerce.Gov: United States Department of Commerce

Commerce.Gov: United States Department of Commerce

Travel-Associated Enteric Infections Diagnosed After Return to the United States, Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), 2004–2009

Approximately 40% of US travelers to less developed countries experience diarrheal illness. Using data from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), we describe travel-associated enteric infections during 2004-2009, characterizing the patients, pathogens, and destinations involved. FoodNet conducts active surveillance at 10 US sites for laboratory-confirmed infections with 9 pathogens transmitted commonly through food. Travel-associated infections are infections diagnosed in the United States but likely acquired abroad based on a pathogen-specific time window between return from international travel to diagnosis. We compare the demographic, clinical, and exposure-related characteristics of travelers with those of nontravelers and estimate the risk of travel-associated infections by destination, using US Department of Commerce data. Of 64,039 enteric infections reported to FoodNet with information about travel, 8270 (13%) were travel associated. The pathogens identified most commonly in travelers were Campylobacter (42%), nontyphoidal Salmonella (32%), and Shigella (13%). The most common travel destinations were Mexico, India, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. Most travel-associated infections occurred in travelers returning from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Risk was greatest after travel to Africa (75.9 cases per 100,000 population), followed by Asia (22.7 cases per 100,000), and LAC (20.0 cases per 100,000). The Latin America and Caribbean region accounts for most travel-associated enteric infections diagnosed in the United States, although travel to Africa carries the greatest risk. Although FoodNet surveillance does not cover enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, a common travel-associated infection, this information about other key enteric pathogens can be used by travelers and clinicians in pre- and posttravel consultations.

Explaining Racial/Ethnic Gaps in Spatial Mismatch in the US: The Primacy of Racial Segregation

Despite declines in racial segregation across most US metropolitan areas in recent years, racial and ethnic minorities still display uneven geographical access to jobs but consistently inferior to that of Whites. This article provides a detailed analysis of the factors driving racial and ethnic gaps in spatial mismatch conditions across US metropolitan areas. Using data primarily from the 1990 and 2000 US censuses, and the 1994 and 1999 US Department of Commerce's zip code business pattern files, descriptive, multivariate and decompositional evidence is generated to address why Blacks and to a lesser extent Latinos display greater degrees of spatial mismatch than Whites. The results indicate that, among many other factors including job sprawl, racial segregation in housing markets is the most important. The models indicate that racial differences in spatial mismatch conditions, particularly between Blacks and Whites, should be eliminated in 45–50 years if racial segregation levels continue to decline in the future at rates similar to those observed over the 1990s.

A brief history of the gasoline service station

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to trace the historical development of gasoline service stations through to 1956, their quantitative importance, the principal types of stations in existence in 1956, and the nature of competition in the business.Design/methodology/approach – A synthesis of historical work on the development of gasoline retailing to 1956 is combined with detailed analysis of US Census statistics covering the period from 1929 through the early 1950s. Beckman was in charge of the Census of Wholesale Distribution for the US Department of Commerce in 1930.Findings – There was rapid and significant growth in the number of gasoline service stations from the early twentieth century through 1939. This, combined with the effects of the Depression and Second World War, led to intense competition, an increase in the lines of merchandise carried by service stations, and ultimately to a decline in the number of stations.Originality/value – Beckman combined a fresh interpretation of earlier publis...

Moving forward together

As 2010 wore to a close, major reports on privacy were released almost simultaneously in the European Union and USA. The first, published on 4 November, came from the European Commission, ‘A Comprehensive Approach on Personal Data in the European Union’. The following month two US agencies released privacy reports. The Federal Trade Commission’s report, ‘Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers’, appeared on 1 December, and two weeks later the US Department of Commerce released its green paper on ‘Commercial Data Privacy and Innovation in the Internet Economy: A Dynamic Policy Framework’. These three significant and long-awaited government reports provide new insights into how regulators on both sides of the Atlantic view privacy challenges and the extent to which those views may be converging. In fact, many observers were surprised by the extent to which the three reports overlap. For example, all three reports are prompted by similar issues and address similar problems—mainly, that current approaches to data protection have become ineffective in response to the rapid expansion in information technologies and applications. All three reports explicitly recognize the tension between innovation and intrusion and acknowledge both the value and risks of information flows. Notice and choice, particular hallmarks of US privacy protection, but also found in European laws, come in for special (and well-deserved) criticism, especially in the EU and FTC reports. All three reports stress the importance of not over-focusing on notice and choice and ensuring that, when presented, notices are clear, concise, and simple to use. The reports also recognize the importance of industry responsibility, self-regulation, and international cooperation in enforcement. All three focus new attention on accountability, rather than mere compliance, as a principled basis for data protection. And all three reports were issued in draft form and specifically invited public comment, reflecting the fundamental importance of individual and industry participation in formulating workable privacy policies. These and other similarities appear to reflect growing convergence in transatlantic thinking about data protection issues. In fact, elements of each report sound themes historically associated with regulators on the other side of the Atlantic. The EU report reflects concerns about the burden of complying with data protection laws, the tension between protecting privacy and not stifling innovation, inconsistency among member state laws, and the practicality of current restrictions on international transfers of data—concerns that seasoned privacy observers might find more reminiscent of US regulators. Meanwhile, the FTC and Commerce reports expand the range of privacy principles to which companies might be held accountable, the data that might raise privacy issues (even if no unique identifiers are involved), and interests that should be protected—all points traditionally associated with European regulators. The reports are, of course, not the only sign of convergence. The FTC joined with twelve European and other regulators in March 2010 to launch the Global Privacy Enforcement Network to facilitate multinational cooperation in enforcing privacy laws. In October, the FTC was officially admitted to the annual conference of data protection and privacy commissioners. Department of Commerce officials have been

Is China’s Currency Regime A Countervailable Subsidy? A Legal Analysis Under the World Trade Organization’s SCM Agreement

Members of Congress are currently threatening to enact legislation authorizing the US Department of Commerce to investigate China’s allegedly undervalued currency as a countervailable subsidy. If this happens, then China will very likely challenge the United States at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) dispute settlement mechanism. This paper analyses whether a countervailing duty (CVD) applied to China’s currency regime would be consistent with the WTO’s Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) Agreement. Contrary to many commentaries, this paper concludes that, while there are several significant potential obstacles, there are in fact legitimate arguments that a WTO panel could use to uphold a US-imposed CVD on China’s undervalued currency.

Gross Domestic Sport Product: The Size of the Sport Industry in the United States

With a view of verifying the optimistic forecasts of the growth of the sport industry, the paper presents an estimate of the size of the sport industry in 2005 and compares it to a 1995 estimate provided by Meek (1997). Following the methodology of Meek and the guidelines put forth by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (2007), we present three estimates for the size of the Gross Domestic Sport Product (GDSP) of the United States of America in 2005—conservative estimate of $168.469 billion, moderate estimate of $189.338 billion, and the liberal estimate of $207.503 billion. A comparison of the moderate estimate with Meek’s 1995 estimate shows that the size of sport industry, in relative terms, actually declined. The sources of the data, rationale for three different estimates, and the values for the components of the GDSP are described and explained.

Amicus Brief: United States – Definitive Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties on Certain Products from China

The panel’s interpretation has two fundamental flaws. First, the panel disregards the general illegality of double remedies under the WTO norms, which is manifest under GATT Article VI and SCM Article 19:4. As a result, the panel validates the U.S.’ concurrent imposition of countervailing duties after the previous imposition of antidumping duties under the non-market economy (NME) methodology. Second, the panel, blatantly disregarding SCM provisions, such as Article 12.8, shifts the burden of proof from the investigating authority (the United States Department of Commerce (DOC) in this dispute) to the respondents. Although the investigating authority is required under the Article to fully demonstrate the non-existence of double counting when it employs the NME methodology, the panel nonetheless imposes on respondents the burden of establishing that there existed actual double counting, and therefore “duties in excess of the subsidy.”

Google Confronts China’s “Three Warfares”

In early January 2010, Google announced that a computer attack originating from China had penetrated its corporate infrastructure (in mid-December) and stolen information from its computers, most likely source code. The hackers also accessed Gmail accounts of some human-rights activists and infiltrated networks of 33 companies. In April 2010, journalist John Markoff wrote: A person with direct knowledge of investigation now says that losses included one of Google's crown jewels, a password system that controls access by millions of users worldwide to almost all of company's Web services, including e-mail and business applications. The program, code named Gala for Greek goddess of earth, was attacked in a lightning raid taking less than two days last December, person said. (1) China's recent incursions into US military computer networks and Google's cyber systems are of concern when viewed in isolation. They reflect a more serious problem when viewed as part of a short-term goal of conducting preemptive reconnaissance that accommodates a longer-term goal of affecting US military planning or US economy. Many factors indicate that this may be China's goal. Initially, this article examines context within which Google attacks occurred and how Google's response--abandoning censorship in China--was used by Chinese to distract attention from their planned aggression. It then analyzes how a 2003 military regulation assisted China's response to Google's accusations. In short, these procedures are being used all too often by Chinese and are causing US authorities to be more and more intolerant of Chinese behavior. Why America Has Had Enough Journalist Josh Rogin recently listed ten computer incidents that are commonly known in United States through press releases and government agency briefings. All parties damaged by attacks suspect that Chinese are behind these incursions. The ten events are: * 2004: Titan Rain, Federal Bureau of Investigation name for a group of hackers from Guangdong province who stole information from US military labs, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, World Bank, and others. * 2006: A US State Department official in East Asia opens an email that allows hackers to break into computers at US embassies all over region. * 2006: US Representative Frank Wolf's office is attacked. He is an outspoken lawmaker on Chinese human-rights issues and suspects Chinese in attack. * 2006: The US Commerce Department had to discard all of its computers due to targeted attacks originating from China. * 2006: The US Naval War College took all of its computers offline after a major cyber attack in which China emerged as main culprit. * 2007: Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez finds spy software on his computer following a trade mission trip to China. * 2008: The presidential campaigns of both President-elect Barack Obama and Senator John McCain are attacked by Chinese cyber spies. * 2009: Senator Bill Nelson revealed attacks against his computer had been traced to China. * 2009: Toronto researchers find a massive cyber espionage ring using Chinese malware they call Ghostnet. The attacks penetrated 103 countries, and their origin was China. * 2009: Lockheed Martin's F-35 program is hacked and China emerges as main suspect. (2) This list obviously does not include hundreds of thousands of pings (purpose unknown) that US Web sites have received from China over years, nor does it mention other specific incidents. And then along comes Google. How Serious was Google Attack? The attack on Google occurred in December 2009. Some sources state that as many as 33 companies were victims of hack attack. (3) Alan Paller, director of well-known information security training firm known as SANS Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, indicated just how invasive attacks were, noting the odds of 25 biggest companies in California not being fully compromised by Chinese is near zero. …

Sensor enriched infrastructure system

Civil infrastructure, in both its construction and maintenance, represents the largest societal investment in this country, outside of the health care industry. Despite being the lifeline of US commerce, civil infrastructure has scarcely benefited from the latest sensor technological advances. Our future should focus on harnessing these technologies to enhance the robustness, longevity and economic viability of this vast, societal investment, in light of inherent uncertainties and their exposure to service and even extreme loadings. One of the principal means of insuring the robustness and longevity of infrastructure is to strategically deploy smart sensors in them. Therefore, the objective is to develop novel, durable, smart sensors that are especially applicable to major infrastructure and the facilities to validate their reliability and long-term functionality. In some cases, this implies the development of new sensing elements themselves, while in other cases involves innovative packaging and use of existing sensor technologies. In either case, a parallel focus will be the integration and networking of these smart sensing elements for reliable data acquisition, transmission, and fusion, within a decision-making framework targeting efficient management and maintenance of infrastructure systems. In this paper, prudent and viable sensor and health monitoring technologies have been developed and used in several large structural systems. Discussion will also include several practical bridge health monitoring applications including their design, construction, and operation of the systems.

Fire Hazard Calculations for Hydrocarbon Pool Fires – Application of “fire Dynamics Simulator – Fds” to the Risk Assessment of an Oil Extraction Platform

A major area for fire protection in the industrial sector deals with controlling the impact from hydrocarbon fires. The primary mechanism for injury or damage from such fires is thermal radiation, that can be evaluated with the aid of different software. Analytical models are those most widely used for this purpose. Other aspects of great importance to assess the possibility for an individual to survive a fire, like smoke emission, toxic combustion products dispersion and visibility, and the temperature profile reached by each component involved in the pool fire (necessary for a better understanding of the structure fire resistance) are however not easily assessed or not assessed at all by analytical models. These information can be obtained by means of computational fluid dynamics software like the “Fire Dynamics Simulator” (FDS), developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the United States Department of Commerce, that allows the 3-dimensional analysis of fires both in enclosed spaces and in the open. This model has been applied for the analysis of fires in enclosed structures (buildings, underground stations, tunnel fires). It has been recently applied in D’Appolonia to the assessment of pool fires for different Offshore Oil Platforms. The paper will discuss the results achieved and the comparison with the results obtained by analytical modeling.

Les politiques forestières du Québec et le commerce « loyal » : le différend sur le bois d'œuvre

Stumpage rights on trees from public forests are set in Quebec in reference to prices in the private wood market. In the softwood lumber dispute with the United States, if the US Department of Commerce considered in 1992 that this market was competitive, and thus could be used as a benchmark, it concluded differently in 2002. Yet, it is difficult to establish if Quebec's forest regime effectively satisfies the conditions of “fair” trade, on which the United States insists. Although the new forest regime announced by the government of Quebec in 2008 provides for the auctioning of a significant part of the public timber, it is unlikely to meet the US conditions.

Les politiques forestières du Québec et le commerce « loyal » : le différend sur le bois d’œuvre

Les droits de coupe pour les arbres des forêts publiques sont déterminés au Québec à partir des prix du bois sur le marché privé. Dans le cadre du différend sur le bois d’œuvre avec les États-Unis, si le département américain du Commerce considérait en 1992 que ce marché était concurrentiel, et pouvait donc servir de base de référence, il concluait différemment en 2002. Or, il est difficile de démontrer que le régime forestier québécois satisfait ou non effectivement à des conditions « loyales » d’échanges, sur lesquelles les États-Unis insistent. Même si le nouveau régime forestier annoncé par le gouvernement du Québec en 2008 prévoit la mise aux enchères d’une part significative du bois public, ce régime ne paraît guère en mesure de répondre aux exigences américaines.

Project Management Performance Drivers

The practice of project management has gained enormous importance over the past several years in various business industries. “In industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, software, and aerospace, projects drive business” (Wheatley). This gain of importance can be attributed to the magnitude of the impact project performance results in terms of time, cost, and scope have over the project performing entity. “On the basis of data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the US Department of Commerce, they estimated in 2001 that the US public and private sectors combined spend some $2.3trn on projects every year, an amount equivalent to a quarter of America’s GDP” (Wheatley). The Project Management Performance Drivers research was conducted to demonstrate how project performance in terms of time, cost, and scope is dependent on applying generally recognized good project management practices. The research was based on a survey filled by project management professionals and regression analysis was used to elicit the relationship between good project management practice and project performance. The research revealed that a direct linear relationship seems to exist. The attained result demonstrates the importance of applying generally recognized good project management practices when managing projects.