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An B C Con D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S Sp T U VWXYZ
Pacific Basin Economic Council
The PBEC is a private sector group organized in 1967 to promote regional trade and
investment. PBEC currently includes about 1,000 corporations and 14 national membership
committees.
Pacific Economic Cooperation
Council
The PECC is a nongovernmental organization founded in 1980 and aimed at promoting
cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Members are drawn from 20 countries and
territories: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Mexico, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan,
Thailand, and the United States.
Pacific Rim
The Pacific Rim, referring to countries and economies bordering the Pacific ocean, is an
informal, flexible term which generally has been regarded as a reference to East Asia, Canada,
and the United States. At a minimum, the Pacific Rim includes Canada, Japan, the People's
Republic of China, Taiwan, and the United States. It may also include Australia, Brunei,
Cambodia, Hong Kong/Macau, Indonesia, Laos, North Korea, South Korea, Malaysia, New
Zealand, the Pacific Islands, the Philippines, Russia (or the Commonwealth of Independent
States), Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. As an evolutionary term, usage sometimes
includes Mexico, the countries of Central America, and the Pacific coast countries of South
America.
Packing List.
A list which shows number and kinds of packages being shipped, totals of gross, legal, and
net weights of the packages, and marks and numbers on the packages. The list may be
requested by an importer or may be required by an importing country to facilitate the
clearance of goods through customs.
Pallet.
A low portable platform, usually wooden, on which cargo is stacked for storage or
transportation; a skid.
Pan American Standards Commission
See: Comision Panaamericana de Normas Tecnicas.
Pan American Union
See: Organization of American States.
Parcel Post Receipt.
The postal authorities' signed acknowledgment of delivery to receiver of a shipment made
by parcel post.
Paris Club
The Paris Club has become a popular designation for meetings between representatives of a
developing country that wishes to renegotiate its "official" debt (normally
excluding debts owed by and to the private sector without official guarantees) and
representatives of the relevant creditor governments and international institutions. These
meetings usually occur at the request of a debtor country that wishes to consolidate all
or part of its debt service payments falling due over a specified period. Meetings are
traditionally chaired by a senior official of the French Treasury Department. Comparable
meetings occasionally take place in London and in New York for countries that wish to
renegotiate repayment terms for their debts to private banks. These meetings are sometimes
called "creditor clubs."
See: London Club.
Paris Convention
The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, first adopted in 1883, is
the major international agreement providing basic rights for protecting industrial
property. It covers patents, industrial designs, service marks, trade names, indications
of source, and unfair competition. The U.S. ratified this treaty in May of 1887. The
treaty provides two fundamental rights:
- The principle of national
treatment provides that nationals of any signatory nation shall enjoy in all other
countries of the union the advantages that each nation's laws grant to its own nationals.
- The right of priority enables any resident or national of a member country to, first,
file a patent application in any member country and, thereafter, to file a patent
application for the same invention in any of the other member countries within 12 months
of the original filing and receive benefit of the original filing date. The resident or
national of a member country also can claim the filing date of a trademark application or
industrial design filed in another member country within six months of the filing date in
his or her own country or country of residence.
Pass-Through
Pass-through operations (also called transshipments) involve a foreign country's use of
one country in a trade bloc as a means of gaining preferential treatment from other
countries in the bloc.
See: Transshipment.
Patent Cooperation Treaty
The Patent Cooperation Treaty, PCT, is a worldwide convention, open to any Paris
Convention country. The PCT entered into force in 1978. Unlike the Paris Convention, which
addresses substantive intellectual property rights, the PCT addresses procedural
requirements, aiming to simplify the filing, searching, and publication of international
patent applications.
PEFCO
Private Export Funding Corporation. A corporation that lends to foreign buyers to finance
exports from the United States
Penalty Clause.
Clause in a countertrade contract that specifies sanctions against one or both signatories
of the contract in the event of nonperformance on contractual obligations.
Performance Bond.
Security deposit, such as a bank guarantee or a letter of credit opened by the supplier,
that guarantees compliance on the part of the supplier with the terms of the sale
contract. The deposit, typically 10 percent of the contract amount, is payable to the
buyer as liquidated damages in case the supplier defaults on performance.
Performance Requirements
"Performance requirements" refers to government-mandated or -approved activities
that investors must undertake, usually as a condition of establishment or operation in a
particular country.
Perils of the Sea.
Fortuitous accidents or casualties, peculiar to transportation on a navigable water, such
as stranding, sinking, collision of the vessel, striking a submerged object, or
encountering heavy weather or other unusual forces of nature.
Period of Investigation
The period, usually 6 months, beginning at least 150 days before and continuing 30 days
after the first day of the month when an antidumping petition is filed, during which an
exporter's home market (or third country) and United States prices and other appropriate
facts are investigated to determine whether sales to the United States have been at less
than fair value.
See: Tariff Act of 1930.
Permanent Interstate Committee for
Drought Control in the Sahel, The Committee
(French: Comité Permanente Interétats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel,
CILSS) provides drought protection assistance to the eight countries of the Sahel region
(Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and
Senegal) through such forms as food silo construction, agricultural development, improving
roads, and preventing desertification. The Committee, founded in 1976, works in
cooperation with the United Nations, the World Bank, the European Economic Community, and
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Persona Grata
A diplomatic representative who is acceptable to the government of the country where he or
she is assigned.
Persona Non Grata
A diplomatic representative who is no longer acceptable to the government of the country
where he or she is assigned.
Petrodollars
This term refers to oil earnings of petroleum-exporting countries in excess of their
domestic needs and deposited in dollars in Western banks. However, a large part of the
revenues that OPEC countries were unable to spend has been recycled to oil-importing
countries in an attempt to balance international accounts.
Phytosanitary Inspection
Certificate.
A certificate, issued by the US Department of Agriculture to satisfy import regulations
for foreign countries, indicating that a US shipment has been inspected and is free from
harmful pests and plant diseases.
Piggybacking.
The assigning of export marketing and distribution functions by one manufacturer to
another.
Pilferage.
The theft of part of the contents of a shipping package.
Pipeline Protection
Pipeline protection broadly refers to the protection accorded by a country for inventions,
usually for pharmaceutical and agrichemical products, which already exist prior to that
country's making patent protection available for such inventions.
Plata Basin Financial Development
Fund
See: Fondo Financiero Para el Desarrollo de la Cuenca del Plata.
Plaza Accord
In a September 1985 meeting at the Plaza Hotel in New York, G-5 officials ratified an
initiative to use exchange rates and other macropolicy adjustments as the preferred and
necessary means to bring about an orderly decline in the value of the dollar. The
agreement, intended to curb increasing U.S. trade imbalances and protectionist action,
supported orderly appreciation of the main non-dollar currences against the dollar.
See: Louvre Accord.
PO
See Purchase Order
POA - Purchase Order
Adjustment
Political Risk.
In export financing the risk of loss due to such causes as currency inconvertibility,
government action preventing entry of goods, expropriation or confiscation, war, etc.
Policy Framework Paper
The PFP lays out the steps a country will take while receiving structural adjustment
assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It describes the origins of the
country's difficulties, corresponding improvement efforts, and requisite financing as well
as probable impacts on environment and society.
The paper, updated annually, is developed by the recipient government in collaboration
with IMF and the World Bank. By design, it also serves as a vehicle for attracting orderly
assistance from other donors.
See: Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility.
Political Risk
With regard to Eximbank and Overseas Private Investment Corporation programs, political
risk coverage normally includes defaults or losses due to action of inaction by
governments, including war and civil unrest, expropriations, and inconvertibility of local
currency to dollars. Losses due to currency devaluation are not considered a political
risk.
See: Commercial Risk.
Portfolio Investment
In general, any foreign investment that is not direct investment is considered portfolio
investment. Foreign portfolio investment includes the purchase of voting securities
(stocks) at less than a 10 percent level, bonds, trade finance, and government lending or
borrowing, excluding transactions in official reserves.
Port Shopping
Port shopping is the practice of exporters and importers choosing a particular port on the
basis of their assessment of Customs' treatment, rather than on the quality of physical
facilities and efficiency.
Post-Initiated Promotion
This is a scheduled low budget trade promotion totally within resources at post, such as
BIO, BFC, or BSP.
Post-Shipment Verifications
PSVs are conducted to determine that a commodity is being used for the purposes for which
its export was licensed. Firms or individuals representing the end user, intermediate
consignees, or the purchaser may be subject to inquiries pertaining to the post-shipment
verification. As part of the PSV process, BXA forwards a cable to the U.S. embassy or
consulate in the respective geographical location to conduct an on-site inspection to
ensure that the commodity is physically present and used as stated in the application.
Post-shipment verifications are usually conducted six-to-eight months subsequent to export
of the commodity. PSVs are also conducted by BXA agents.
POW WOW
The POW WOW is a trade show (held annually in the United States and annually in Europe)
which brings together U.S. sellers and foreign buyers of travel-related services
pertaining to travel to the United States.
Pow Wow Selection Committee
A committee of private industry representatives in foreign countries which is responsible
for selecting invitees to the International POW WOW.
Preferential Trade Area for Eastern
and Southern African States
PTA, established in 1981, supports economic development and cooperation (agriculture,
communications, customs, industry, monetary affairs, natural resources, and trade).
Membership includes: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi,
Mauritius, Rwanda, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. PTA's
headquarters are in Lusaka, Zambia.
Pre-License Checks
PLCs are conducted to determine that dual-use items on an export license application are
destined for a legitimate end-use by a reliable end-user. Firms or individuals
representing the licensee (the applicant), the consignee, the purchaser, the intermediate
consignee, or the end user may be subject to inquiries pertaining to the pre-license
check. As part of the process, BXA forwards a cable to the U.S. embassy or consulate in
the respective geographical location to conduct an inspection or meet with company
representatives to conduct inquiries on BXA's behalf.
Preliminary
Determination
The dumping determination by the International Trade Administration announcing the results
of the investigation conducted within 160 days (or, in extraordinarily complicated cases,
210 days) after a petition is filed or an investigation is self-initiated by the
International Trade Administration. If the International Trade Administration determines
that there is a reasonable basis to believe or suspect that the merchandise under
consideration is being sold or is likely to be sold at less than fair value, liquidation
of all affected entries is suspended, and the matter is referred to the International
Trade Commission. "Preliminary determination" also refers to the decision by the
ITC where there is a reasonable indication that an industry in the United States is
materially injured, or threatened with material injury, or the establishment of an
industry in the United States is materially retarded by reason of the imports of the
merchandise which is the subject of the petition. The ITC must make its decision within 45
days after the date on which the petition is filed or an investigation is self-initiated
by the International Trade Administration. If this determination is negative, the
investigation is terminated.
See: Tariff Act of 1930.
Prepaid
A term used to signify that transportation charges will be paid by seller at point of
shipment.
President's Export Council
The President's Export Council (PEC) advises the President on government policies and
programs that affect U.S. trade performance; promote export expansion; and provide a forum
for discussing and resolving trade-related problems among the business, industrial,
agricultural, labor, and government sectors.
The Council was established by
Executive Order of the President in 1973 and was originally composed only of business
executives. The Council was reconstituted in 1979 to include leaders of the labor and
agricultural communities, Congress, and the Executive branch.
Twenty-eight private sector
members serve "at the pleasure of the President" with no set term of office.
Other members include five U.S. Senators and five Members of the House, the Secretaries of
Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, State, and Treasury, the Chairman of the Export-Import Bank,
and the U.S. Trade Representative. The Council reports to the President through the
Secretary of Commerce.
The President's Export Council,
Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA), formed in June 1976, advises the PEC, the
White House, and Commerce on all export control matters, including those which affect
Commerce, State, Defense and Energy. The PECSEA membership comprises 25 industry
representatives, selected by the Secretary of Commerce.
Private Export Funding Corporation
PEFCO is a private company, accessed through its member banks and a few exporters, that
works with Eximbank in using private capital to finance U.S. exports. The corporation acts
as a supplemental lender to traditional commercial banking sources by making loans to
public and private borrowers located outside of the United States who require medium
and/or longer-term financing of their purchases of U.S. goods and services.
Private Voluntary Organizations
PVOs are non-profit, tax-exempt and nongovernmental organizations governed by a group of
private /citizens whose purpose is to engage in voluntary, charitable and development
operations overseas. The U.S. Agency for International Development has registered over 150
PVOs which are eligible to receive USAID funding.
Privatization..
Government procedure to pursue a free-market economy for certain state-owned assets such
as companies, operating monopolies, natural resources, etc., and make them available for
new investments by invited private businesses which assume part or all of their ownership
and management.
Product Groups
Commodity groupings used for export control purposes.
See: Export Control Classification Number.
Profit
For the purposes of constructed value in an antidumping duty investigation or review, the
profit used is the profit normally earned by a producer, from the country of export, of
the same or similar product as that under investigation.
By statute, the amount of profit shall
not be less than 8 percent of the sum of general expenses and cost.
Pro Forma Invoice.
An invoice provided by a supplier prior to the shipment of merchandise, informing the
buyer of the kinds and quantities of goods to be sent, their value, and important
specifications (weight, size, etc.)
Project Financing.
Financing by a bank or consortium of a major project with long-term revenue generating
potential in which the lender's security is based on the expectation that revenues
generated by the project will be sufficient to service debt incurred for the project,
and/or a mortgage on the project's assets. Project financing is often referred to as
"limited recourse financing" because it does not rely for security on recourse
to the assets and revenues of the borrowers.
Project License
The Bureau of Export Administration uses the project license to authorize large-scale
exports of a wide variety of commodities and technical data for specified activities.
Those activities are restricted to capital expansion, maintenance, repair or operating
supplies, or the supply of materials to be used in the production of other commodities for
sale. Items intended for resale in the form received are not permitted and must be
effected under a Distribution License.
Promissory Note.
Short-term credit instrument consisting of a written promise by the buyer (importer) to
pay a specified amount of money to the seller (exporter) on demand or on a given future
date. Promissory notes are often negotiable.
Protest System
The Protest System, a part of Customs' Automated Commercial System, tracks protests from
the date they are received through final action. A protest is the legal means by which an
importer, consignee, or other designated part may challenge decisions made by a District
Director of Customs.
Protective Order
With regard to antidumping cases, a term for the order under which most business
proprietary information is made available to an attorney or other representative of a
party to the proceeding.
See: Tariff Act of 1930.
Protocol.
See Link Contract. The term is also used to specify government-to-government
agreements that govern reciprocal trade between two countries. Bilateral government
protocols may prescribe how the governments treat each other's suppliers and the general
framework for the development of bilateral relations. The protocols also may set out the
terms governing reciprocal trade turnovers of specified products such as commodities for
industrial goods or industrial plants. Unlike bilateral clearing agreements, each trade
transaction is settled through extension of government credits and guarantees.
See: International Agreements
Protocol of Provisional Application
A legal device that enabled the original contracting parties to accept general GATT
obligations and benefits, despite the fact that some of their existing domestic
legislation at that time discriminated against imports in a manner that was inconsistent
with certain GATT provisions. Although meant to be "temporary," the Protocol has
remained in effect; and countries that signed the PPA in 1947 continue to invoke it to
defend certain practices that are otherwise inconsistent with their GATT obligations.
Countries that acceded to the GATT after 1947 have also done so under the terms of the
Protocol.
Purchase Order
A document used to formalize a purchase transaction with a supplier. A purchase order,
when given to supplier, should contain statements as to the quantity, description and
price of the goods or services ordered; agreed terms as to payments, discounts, dates of
performance, transportation terns, F.O.B. point and all other agreements pertinent to the
purchase of its execution by the vendor.
Purchase Price
A statutory term used in dumping investigations to refer to the United States sales price
of merchandise which is sold or likely to be sold prior to the date of importation, by the
producer or reseller of the merchandise for exportation to the United States. Certain
statutory adjustments (e.g., import duties, commissions, freight) are made, if
appropriate, to permit a meaningful comparison with the foreign market value of such or
similar merchandise.
See: Tariff Act of 1930.
Purchase Requisition
The form used by departments to request the Purchasing Department to procure goods or
services from vendors.
Purchaser
Within the context of export controls, the purchaser is that person abroad who has entered
into the export transaction with the applicant to purchase the commodities or technical
data for delivery to the ultimate consignee.
Purchasing Agent
An agent who purchases goods in his/her own country on behalf of large foreign buyers such
as government agencies and large private corporations.
Purchasing Power Parity
Purchasing power parity is a theory which states that exchange rates between currencies
are in equilibrium when their purchasing power is the same in each of the two countries.
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