ITC report centers on removal of import restraints

   The U.S. International Trade Commission on Monday issued an update of its report, the eighth in a series of reports for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, saying imports and exports would both expand by about $6.2 billion if certain import restraints were eliminated.
   The ITC, an independent, nonpartisan, fact-finding agency, completed the report, called “The Economic Effects of Significant U.S. Import Restraints.”
   The ITC used an economic model of the U.S. economy to analyze the effects of removing import restraints. 
   As summarized in the report, the ITC estimates that the country’s economic welfare would increase on average by about $1.1 billion annually if the U.S. ended restraints noted in the report. 
   The ITC said the $6.2 billion import/export expansion would come from removing barriers affecting cheese, sugar, canned tuna, textiles and apparel, and certain high-tariff manufacturing sectors.