On July 25, 2013, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) issued a news release announcing that an investigation is being launched regarding how the European Union (EU) trade-barrier restrictions will affect small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

In the release, the USITC explains that the investigation was requested by the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. According to the release, " the USTR noted that the report will help U.S. negotiators attain broad input from SMEs as part of the domestic consultation process to support negotiations related the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership."

Some of the things the ITC will focus on are:

• Barriers faced by U.S. SMEs exporting both goods and service
• Barriers identified by U.S. SMEs that have experience in exporting to the EU
• Barriers by economic sector or by special issue to the degree practicable
• Sectors with high concentrations of SMEs

Comments must be received by the USITC by  October 15, 2013. The results of the investigation will be returned to the USTR by January 31, 2014.

The full text of the press release is available online here.