Glossary of Trade & Shipping Terms

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Glossary of Trade & Shipping Terms - S

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S&D - Special and Differential Treatment
S. & A. - Signing and accounting (procedure)
S. & F.A. - Shipping and Forwarding Agent
S. & H/exct. - Sundays and holidays excepted in lay days
S. & L. - Sue & Labor (charges)
S. B. - Short Bill
S. to S. - Station to station
S.A. - Salvage Association
s.a.n.r. - Subject to approval no risk
S.B.M. - Single buoy mooring
s.b.s. - survey before shipment
s.c. - Salvage charges
S.C.A. - Settlement of claims abroad
S.C.O.R. - Scientific Commission on Oceanic Research
S.D. - Sea damage
S.d. - Short delivery
S.D.A. - Single administrative document
S.D.H.F. - Standard Dutch Hull Form
S.E.P. - Subject to endorsement on the policy
S.H.P. - Shaft horse-power
S.I. - Short Interest, Sum Insured International System of Units (System International)
S.I.T.P.R.O - Simplification of Industrial Trade Procedures Boad
S.K.D. - Semi knocked down
s.l. - Salvage loss
S.O. - Seller's option
S.O.L. - Ship owner's liability
S.O.S. - Service of suit
S.P. - Supra Protest
s.p.d. - Steamer pays dues
S.R. & C.C. - Strikes, riots and civil commotions
S.R.L. - Ship repairers' liability
S.S. & C. - Same sea and country or coast
S.S.C. - Simultaneous settlements clause
S.S.N. - Standard shipping notice
s.v. - Sailing vessel
S.W. - Shipper's weights
S.W.D. - Seawater damage
S.W.G. - Standard wire gauge
S/A - Subject to Acceptance (insurance)
s/a - Subject to approval
S/Fee - Survey Fee
S/I - Sum insured
S/IOGA - State/Industry-Organized, Government-Approved
S/L - Sue and labor
S/L.C. - Sue and labor clause
S/L.Ch. - Sue and labor charges
S/N - Shipping note
SA - Sociedad Anonima, Societe Anonyme
SA de CV - Sociedad Anonima
SAARC - South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
SABIT - Special American Business Internship Training Program
SACU - Southern African Customs Union
SADC - Southern African Development Community
SAF - Structural Adjustment Facility
Safeguards - The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) permits two forms of multilateral safeguards: (a) a country's right to impose temporary import controls or other trade restrictions to prevent commercial injury to domestic industry, and (b) the corresponding right of exporters not to be deprived arbitrarily of access to markets. Article XIX of the GATT permits a country whose domestic industries or workers are adversely affected by increased imports to withdraw or modify concessions the country had earlier granted, to impose, for a limited period, new import restrictions if the country can establish that a product is "being imported in such increased quantities as to cause or threaten serious injury to domestic producers," and to keep such restrictions in effect for a such time as may be necessary to prevent or remedy such injury.
Sales Representative - An agent who distributes, represents, services, or sells goods on behalf of foreign sellers.
SALM - Single anchor leg mooring
SARL - Societe e Responsabilite Limitee
SAS - Saudi Arabian Standards Organization
SAS - Societe par Actions Simplifiee
Saudi Arabian Standards Organization - SASO was established in April 1972 as the sole Saudi Arabian government organization to promulgate standards and measurements in the kingdom. Primarily, SASO promulgates standards for electrical equipment and some food products. Some of these standards have been adopted by the Gulf Cooperation Council.
SBM/SPM - Single buoy/point mooring
SC - Senior Commercial Officer
Sch. - Schooner
Schedule B - Refers to 'Schedule B, Statistical Classification of
Schedule B - Schedule B is a U.S. Bureau of the Census publication and is based on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System). Export statistics are initially collected and compiled in terms of approxiximately 8,000 commodity classifications in Schedule B, Statistical Classification of Domestic and Foreign Commodities Exported from the United States. See: Tariff Schedules of the United States Annotated.
Scope Determinations - Scope determinations deal with the product coverage of antidumping and countervailing duty orders. The Department of Commerce will determine -- in response to an application from an interested party or on its own initiative -- whether a certain product is included within the scope of an antidumpting and countervailing duty order.
sd. - Sailed
SDNs - Specially Designated Nationals
SDR - Special drawing right (limitation of liability)
SDRs - Special Drawing Rights
SEA - Single European Act
SECOFI - Secretaria de Comercio y Fomento Industrial
Secretar¡a de Comercio y Fomento Industrial - SECOFI is Mexico's Ministry of Commerce and Industrial Promotion.
Section 201 - Section 201, the "escape clause" provision of the Trade Act of 1974, permits temporary import relief, not to exceed a maximum of eight years, to a domestic industry which is seriously injured, or threatened with serious injury, due to increased imports. Import relief, granted at the President's discretion, generally takes the form of increased tariffs or quantitative restrictions. To be eligible for section 201 relief, the International Trade Commission (ITC) must determine that: (a) the industry has been seriously injured or threatened to be injured and (b) imports have been a substantial cause (not less than any other cause) of that injury. Industries need not prove that an unfair trade practice exists, as is necessary under the antidumping and countervailing duty laws. However, under section 201, a greater degree of injury -- "serious" injury -- must be found to exist, and imports must be a "substantial" cause (defined as not less than any other cause) of that injury. If the ITC finding is affirmative, the President's remedy may be a tariff increase, quantitative restrictions, or orderly marketing agreements. At the conclusion of any relief action, the Commission must report on the effectiveness of the relief action in facilitating the positive adjustment of the domestic industry to import competition. If the decision is made not to grant relief, the President must provide an explanation to the Congress. See: Escape clause Trade Act of 1974.
Section 232 - Under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, as amended, Commerce determines whether articles are being imported into the U.S. in quantities or circumstances that threaten national security. Based on the investigation report, the President can adjust imports of the article(s) in question. Commerce must report on the effects these imports have on national security and make recommendations for action or inaction within 270 days after starting an investigation. Within 90 days of the report, the President decides whether to take action to adjust imports on the basis of national security. The President must notify Congress of his decision within 30 days. See: Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
Section 301 - Under section 301, firms can complain about a foreign country's trade policies or practices that are harmful to U.S. commerce. The section empowers the USTR to investigate the allegations and to negotiate the removal of any trade barriers. USTR may also self-initiate investigations. Specific timeframes for conducting the investigations are specified by law. Section 301 requires that GATT's dispute resolution process be invoked where applicable and, if negotiations fail, to retaliate within 180 days from the date that discovery of a trade agreement violation took place. See: Special 301 Super 301.
Section 337 - Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 requires investigations of unfair practices in import trade. Under this authority, the International Trade Commission applies U.S. statutory and common law of unfair competition to the importation of products into the United States and their sale. Section 337 prohibits unfair competition and unfair importing practices and sales of products in the U.S., when these threaten to: (a) destroy or substantially injure a domestic industry, (b) prevent the establishment of such an industry, or (c) restrain or monopolize U.S. trade and commerce. Section 337 also prohibits infringement of U.S. patents, copyrights, registered trademarks, or mask works. See: Tariff Act of 1930.
Section 416 - Section 416 of the Agricultural Act of 1949 provides for the donation of food and feed commodities owned by Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation and is focused on people in developing countries. See: Food For Peace. Food For Progress.
SED - Shipper's Export Declaration
SEED - Support for East European Democracy
SELA - Sistema Economico Latinoamericao
Selling, General and Administrative (Expenses) - SGA is the sum of:- General and administrative expenses (such as: salaries of non-sales personnel, rent, heat, and light); - Direct selling expenses (that is, expenses that can be directly tied to the sale of a specific unit, such as: credit, warranty, and advertising expenses); and - Indirect selling expenses (that is, expenses which cannot be directly tied to the sale of a specific unit but which are proportionally allocated to all units sold during a certain period, such as: telephone, interest, and postal charges).
SEM - Seminar Mission
Semiconductor Trade Arrangement - The U.S.-Japan Semiconductor Trade Arrangement is a bilateral agreement which came into effect on August 1, 1991, replacing the prior 1986 Semiconductor Trade Arrangement. The new Arrangement contains provisions to: (a) increase foreign access to the Japanese semiconductor market and (b) deter dumping of semiconductors by Japanese suppliers into the U.S. market, as well as in third country markets. In evaluating market access improvement, both governments agreed to pay particular attention to market share. The expectation of a 20 percent foreign market share by the end of 1992 is included in the Arrangement. The Arrangement explicitly states, however, that the 20 percent figure is not a guarantee, a ceiling, or a floor on the foreign market share.
Senior Commercial Officer - The SCO is the senior U.S. and Foreign Commercial Officer at an embassy and reports in-country to the Ambassador. At major posts, this position carries the title of Commercial Counselor; in key posts, Minister Counselor. Usually reporting to the SCO are a Commercial Attache and Commercial officers. The latter are sometimes assigned to subordinate posts throughout the country.
Sep. - Separation procedure (signing and accounting)
SEPD - State Export Program Database
SF - Solo Fair (overseas procured)
SFSC - Shared Foreign Sales Corporation
SFW - Solo Fair (Washington procured)
SGA - Selling, General and Administrative (Expenses)
Shared Foreign Sales Corporation - A shared FSC is a foreign sales corporation consisting of more than one and less than 25 unrelated exporters. See: Foreign Sales Corporation.
SHex. - Sundays and Holidays excepted
SHIELD - SHIELD is an interagency export control committee that reviews licenses involving chemical or biological weapons.
SHinc. - Sundays and Holidays included
Ship's Manifest - A list, signed by the captain of a ship, of the individual shipments constituting the ship's cargo.
Shipment - A shipment is all of the cargo carried under the terms of a single bill of lading.
Shipper's Export Declaration - A form required by the Treasury Department and completed by a shipper showing the value, weight, consignee, destination, etc., of export shipments as well as Harmonized Schedule B (see above) identification number.
Shipper's Export Declaration - The SED includes complete particulars on individual shipments and is used to control exports and act as a source document for the official U.S. export statistics. SEDs must be prepared for shipments through the U.S. Postal Service when the shipment is valued over $500. SEDs are required for shipments, other than by the U.S. Postal Service, where the value of commodities classified under each individual Schedule B number is over $2,500. SEDs must be prepared, regardless of value, for all shipments requiring a validated export license or destined for countries prohibited by the Export Administration Regulations. SEDs are prepared by the exporter and the exporter's agent and delivered to the exporting carrier (such as: post office, airline, or vessel line). The exporting carrier presents the required number of copies to the U.S. Customs Service at the port of export. The Foreign Trade Statistical Regulations (15 CFR, Part 30) provide the statistical requirements for use by exporters, freight forwarders, and ocean carriers concerning preparation and filing of SEDs.
Shipping Weight - Shipping weight represents the gross weight in kilograms of shipments, including the weight of moisture content, wrappings, crates, boxes, and containers (other than cargo vans and similar substantial outer containers).
Short Supply - Commodities in short supply may be subject to export controls to protect the domestic economy from the excessive drain of scarce materials and to reduce the serious inflationary impact of satisfying foreign demand. Items that the U.S. controls for short supply purposes include petroleum and petroleum products, unprocessed western red cedar, and shipment of horses by sea. The controls are included in the Export Administration Regulations.
SIC - Standard Industrial Classification
SICE - Sistema de Informacion al Comercio Exterior
SIDA - Swedish International Development Authority
SIECA - Permanent Secretariat of the General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration
SIFIDA - Societe Internationale Financiere pour les Investissements, et le Developpement en Afrique
SII - Structural Impediments Initiative
SIJORI - Singapor-Johor-Riau Growth Triangle
SIMIS - Single Internal Market Information Service
Singapore-Jahor-Riau Growth Triangle - SIJORI is a subregional economic grouping composed of the nation of Singapore, the Malaysian State of Johor, and Indonesia's Riau Province.
Single Currency Peg - See: Exchange Rate Classifications.
Single European Act - The SEA, which entered into force in July 1987, was the first significant revision of the Treaty of Rome. The SEA provides the legal and procedural support for achievement of the single European Market by 1992. The SEA revised the EEC Treaty and, where not already provided for in the Treaty, majority decisions were introduced for numerous votes facing the Council of Ministers, particularly those affecting establishment of the single European Market and the European financial common market. The role of the European Parliament was strengthened; decisions on fiscal matters remained subject to unanimity.
Single Internal Market Information Service - SIMIS, operated by the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, provides information, assistance, and advice on how to do business in the European Community's internal market. Telephone: 202-482-5276.
Sistema de Informacion al Comercio Exterior - SICE (English: Foreign Trade Information System) is a databank which provides foreign trade information to the public and private sectors of member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS). The System includes information on the U.S. import and export markets, markets of other OAS member countries, and trade information on the European Community and Japan.
Sistema Economico Latinoamericano - See: Latin American Economic System.
SITC - Standard International Tariff Classification
SITC - Standard International Trade Classification
Sk. - Sack
SL - Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada
Sld. - Sailed
SMSA - Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area
SNC - Societe in Nome Collettivo, Societe en Nom Collectif
SNEC - Sub-Group on Nuclear Export Coordination
SOAP - Sunflower Oil Assistance Program
Sociedad Anonima - S.A. (Spanish: "incorporated company") is a form of corporation which must have at least five shareholders, who may be either Mexican or foreign. Each shareholder is liable only up to the amount of their contribution. No shares may be held by the company name. "S.A." must follow the firm name, indicating that it is a corporation.
Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable - SA de CV (Spanish: "variable capital company"), similarly to SA, must have at least five shareholders, who may be either Mexican or foreign. Each shareholder is liable only up to the amount of their contribution. SA de CV differs from SA in that an SA de CV may own its shares. "S.A. de C.V." must follow the firm name indicating that it a corporation with variable capital.
Societe a Responsabilite Limitata - "Srl" (Italian) is a private company.
Societe Anonyme - S.A. (French: "incorporated") is a form of corporation which must have at least seven shareholders, who may be either French or foreign. Each member is liable only up to the amount of stock owned.
Societe e Responsabilite Limitee - SARL (French: limited liability company") has features of both a corporation and a partnership. The number of partners cannot exceed 50. Partners may be either French or foreign. Partner liabilities are limited to the amount of their contribution, which may be in cash or in kind but not in skills. While shares may be freely traded among partners, they may not be transferred to third parties without majority agreement of partners represenating at least 75 percent of the capital.
Societe en Commandite Simple - Societe en commandite simple (French: "limited partnership") is composed of general partners, of which the managing partner at least must have unlimited liability, and silent partners whose liability is limited to the amount of their capital contributions. Silent partners are not permitted to perform any management functions vis-a-vis other partners. In a limited partnership without shares, transfer of shares of the limited partners is only allowable with the consent of all the partners. In a limited partnership with shares (Societe en commandite par actions), these are transferred in a manner similar to corporations.
Societe en Nom Collectif - Societe en nom collectif, SNC, (French: "general partnership") is organized with all partners being allocated shares for their contributions, which may be cash, in-kind, or services. There is no required minimum or maximum capital, nor any share par value. Shares in the firm are not negotiable and cannot be transferred without agreement of all the partners. Each partner is liable for the totality of the firm's debts and obligations.
Societe in Nome Collettivo - "Snc" (Italian) is a general partnership in which there is no limit on the liability of the partners.
Societe Internationale Financiere pour les Investissements et le Developpement en Afrique - SIFIDA fosters the formation of profitable business in Africa by identifying and nurturing productive projects, by arranging for syndicated loans, and by providing export finance. The Society is a holding company affiliated with the African Development Bank (AfDB); headquarters are in Chene-Bourg, Switzerland. Major shareholders include the AfDB, the International Finance Corporation and more than 100 financial, industrial, and commercial institutions around the world.
Societe par Actions Simplifiee - SAS (French: "private limited company") is designed for joint ventures and permits the rights and liability of each shareholder to be defined by mutual agreement between the parties. Only two shareholders are required.
Societe Per Azioni - "SpA" (Italian: public corporation) must have at least two shareholders at formation; after formation, the requirement is reduced to one shareholder.
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications - SWIFT is a cooperative organized under Belgian law, with headquarters in La Hulpe, near Brussels. SWIFT provides communications services to the international banking industry, including payments and administrative messages and, more recently, securities settlements. Traffic in 1991 was about 362 million messages. SWIFT is owned by the member banks -- approximately 1,600 -- including the central banks of most countries. The U.S. Federal Reserve is not a member, but participates in certain types of payments. Securities brokers and dealers, clearing and depository institutions, exchanges for securities, and travellers checks issuers also participate in SWIFT. SWIFT was organized in 1973 and started operations in 1977.
SOEC - Statistical Office of the European Communities
Soft Currency - The currency of a nation in which exchange may be made only with difficulty. Soft currency countries typically have minimal exchange reserves and deficits in their balance of payments. See: Hard Currency.
Soft Loan - Commonly, a loan from a government or multilateral development bank with a long repayment period and below-market interest.
SOGA - State-Organized, Government-Approved Mission
South Asia Preferential Trading Arrangement - See: South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation - SAARC promotes economic, technical, scientific, and social cooperation among members. The Association was founded in 1985 by seven countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The Association plans to establish a South Asian Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) by 1997 as a step toward creating an economic community in south Asia.
South Group - See: Danish International Development Assistance.
South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation - See: South Pacific Forum.
South Pacific Forum - The SPF is a regional arrangement for convening 15 governments and territories for deliberations on issues of mutual interest. The Forum was established in 1971; headquarters are in Suva, Fiji; members include: Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kirbati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Island, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanatu. The South Pacific Bureau for Economic Cooperation (SPEC) is a subsidiary organization which promotes regional cooperation in the development of the island members in partnership with the more industrially developed countries of the region: Australia and New Zealand.
Southern Africa Development Community - SADC, established in April 1980 (as the Southern Africa Development Coordination Conference), is a regional economic pact comprising Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Since a change in name and focus in mid-1992, the Community focuses solely on development, leaving trade matters to the Preferential Trade Agreement for Eastern and Southren Africa (PTA). Community headquarters are in Gaborone, Botswana.
Southern African Customs Union - SACU, established in 1910, includes Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland. SACU provides for the free exchange of goods within th to whether a country presents excessive barriers to trade with the United States by virtue of its inadequate protection of intellectual property. If the USTR makes a positive determination, a country may be named to the list of: (a) Priority Foreign Countries (the most egregious), (b) the Priority Watch List, or (c) the Watch List. Special 301 (a variation of Section 301) was created by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. See: Section 301 Super 301.
Special American Business Internship Training Program - SABIT, originally the Soviet-American Business Internship Training Program, is a cooperative program that brings business executives and scientists from the former Soviet Union for three-to six-month internships with American companies. The program teaches these managers adn scientists how to operate in a market economy at the same time that American businesses development market contacts once their interns return home. Soviet business managers are referred by the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration to sponsoring U.S. companies, which make the final selection of their interns. The program matches U.S. corporate sponsors with Soviet business executives from the same industries. The Independent States provide transportation; the companies provide living expenses and training in management techniques (production, distribution, marketing, accounting, wholesaling, and publishing).
Special and Differential Treatment - The principle, enunciated in the Tokyo Declaration, that the Tokyo Round negotiations should seek to accord particular benefits to the exports of developing countries, consistent with their trade, financial, and development needs. Among proposals for special or differential treatment are reduction or elimination of tariffs applied to exports of developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), expansion of product and country coverage of the GSP, accelerated implementation of tariff cuts agreed to in the Tokyo Round for developing country exports, substantial reduction or elimination of tariff escalation, special provisions for developing country exports in any new codes of conduct covering nontariff measures, assurance that any new multilateral safeguard system will contain special provisions for developing country exports, and the principle that developed countries will expect less than full reciprocity for trade concessions they grant developing countries.
Special Drawing Rights - SDRs are international reserve assets, created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1970 and allocated to individual member nations. Within conditions set by the IMF, SDRs can be used by a nation with a deficit in its balance of international payments to settle debts with another nation or with the IMF. The value of SDRs is computed as a weighted average of five currencies: deutsche mark, French franc, Japanese yen, pound sterling, and U.S. dollar.
Specially Designated Nationals - The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Department of the Treasury, implements and enforces financial and trade sanctions. FAC has the authority to include within the definition of the sanctioned government those individuals and entities that FAC has determined are owned by, controlled by, or acting directly or indirectly on behalf of the target government. Parties so identified are known as Specially Designated Nationals or SDNs. In practice, an SDN is a target government body, representative, intermediary, or front (whether overt or covert) that usually is located in a third country and functions as an extension of the sanctioned government. An SDN may also be a third-party company that otherwise becomes owned or controlled by the target government or that operates on its behalf. No criminal linkage is necessary. Ownership by, control by, acting on behalf of, or profiting from trade with the target government or country would suffice to qualify a person for designation.
SPF - South Pacific Forum
Spot Transaction - See: Forward Exchange Rate.
SRL - Societe a Responsabilite Limitata
SSA - Sub-Saharan Africa
Stand-By Arrangements - A stand-by arrangement, like an extended arrangement, assures a member country of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it will be able to make purchases up to a specified amount from the IMF during a given period, as long as the member has observed the performance criteria and other terms specified in the arrangement. Stand-by arrangements extend up to three years. See: International Monetary Fund.
Standard Industrial Classification - The SIC is the classification standard underlying all establishment-based U.S. economic statistics classified by industry.
Standard International Trade Classification - The SITC was developed by the United Nations in 1950 and is used solely by international organizations for reporting international trade. The SITC has been revised several times; the current version is Revision 3.
Standards - As defined by the Multilateral Trade Negotiations "Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade" (Standards Code), a standard is a technical specification contained in a document that lays down characteristics of a product such as levels of quality, performance, safety, or dimensions. Standards may include, or deal exclusively with, terminology, symbols, testing and test methods, packaging, marking, or labeling requirements as they apply to a product. The GATT Standards Code, negotiated and accepted during the Tokyo Round in the 1970s, is designed to eliminate the use of standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment (certification) procedures as unnecessary barriers to trade. The Standards Code is administered by the GATT Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. The Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology is responsible for several provisions of the Standards Code which relate to the establishment of a U.S. inquiry point, a standards information center, and a technical office for non-agricultural products.
Standstill - Standstill refers to a commitment of GATT contracting parties not to impose new trade-restrictive measures during the Uruguay Round negotiations. See: Rollback.
State Export Program Database - The SEPD is a trade lead system maintained by the National Association of State Development Agencies (NASDA). The SEPD includes information on state operated trade lead systems.
State Trading Enterprises - STEs are entities established by governments to import, export and/or produce certain products. Examples include: government-operated import/export monopolies and marketing boards or private companies that receive special or exclusive privileges from their governments to engage in trading activities.
State/Industry-Organized, Government Approved - See: Certified Trade Missions.
Statistical Office of the European Community - EUROSTAT provides European Economic Community-wide statistics on economics, finance, foreign trade, services, transportation, industry, population, social conditions, energy, atricutlrual, forestry, and other topics. Eurostat offices are located in Luxembourg.
Std. - Standard (timber trade)
STELA - System for Tracking Export License Applications
STEs - State Trading Enterprises
Stev. Liab. - Stevedores' liability
stevedore - Person whose functions are to load, stow and unload ships.
stg - Sterling
stk - Stock
STM - State Trade Mission
stow - Position in a ship where goods are placed for their
Str. - Steamer
Strategic Level of Controls - Commodity groupings used for export control purposes. See: Export Control Classification Number.
Strd. - Standard
Structural Adjustment Facility - See: Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility.
Structural Impediments Initiative - The SII was started in July 1989 to identify and solve structural problems that restrict bringing two-way trade between the U.S. and Japan into better balance. Both the U.S. and Japanese governments chose issues of concern in the other's economy as impediments to trade and current account imbalances. The areas which the U.S. Government chose as focus included: (a) Japanese savings and investment patterns, (b) land use, (c) distribution, (d) keiretsu, (e) exclusionary business practices, and (f) pricing. Areas which the Japanese Government chose as focus included: (a) U.S. savings and investment patterns, (b) corporate investment patterns and supply capacity, (c) corporate behavior, (d) government regulation, (e) research and development, (f) export promotion, and (g) workforce education and training. In a June 1990 report, the U.S. and Japan agreed to 7 meetings in the following three years to review progress, discuss problems, and produce annual joint reports.
Sub-Group on Nuclear Export Coordination - The SNEC is an interagency review panel which monitors and facilitates the interagency processing of specific matters related to activities which, in the determination of any of the members, pose potential policy concerns. The SNEC is comprised of State (as chair), Energy (as secretariat), Commerce, Defense, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The SNEC also includes the Central Intelligence Agency as an observer. Representatives from other agencies may be invited as participants or observers.
Subsidies - GATT does not directly define subsidies. The U.S. regards a subsidy as a bounty or grant paid for the manufacture, production, or export of an article. Export subsidies are contingent on exports; domestic subsidies are conferred on production without reference to exports. While governments sometimes make outright payments to firms; subsidies usually take a less direct form (R&D support, tax breaks, loans on preferential terms, and provision of raw materials at below-market prices).
Subsidy - There are two general types of subsidies: export and domestic. An export subsidy is a benefit conferred on a firm by the government that is contingent or exports. A domestic subsidy is a benefit not linked to exports, conferred by the government upon a specific industry or enterprise or group of industries or enterprises.
Substantial Suppliers - If a country supplies approximately 10 percent of the trade in a given item imported to a second country, the first country is said to have a substantial supplier status.
Summary Investigation - A 20-day investigation conducted by the International Trade Administration immediately following filing of an antidumping petition to ascertain if the petition contains sufficient information with respect to sales at "less than fair value" and the injury or threat of material injury to a domestic industry caused by the alleged sales at "less than fair value" to warrant the initiation of an antidumping investigation. See: Tariff Act of 1930.
Summit Conference - A summit conference is an international meeting at which heads of government are the chief negotiators, major world powers are represented, and the meeting serves substantive rather than ceremonial purposes. The term first came into use in reference to the Geneva Big Four Conference of 1955.
Sunflowerseed Oil Assistance Program - SOAP, one of four export subsidy programs operated by the Department of Agriculture, helps U.S. exporters meet prevailing world prices for sunflowerseed oil in targeted markets. USDA pays cash to U.S. exporters as bonuses, making up the difference between the higher U.S. cost of acquiring sunflowerseed oil and the lower world price at which it is sold.
Super 301 - This provision was enacted due to Congressional concern that the regular Section 301 procedures narrowly limit U.S. attention to the market access problems of individual sectors or companies. Super 301 sets procedures to identify and address within three years certain "priority", systemic trade restriction policies of other nations. Super 301 was created by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. Super 301 authority expired May 30, 1990.
Supply Access - Assurances that importing countries will, in the future, have fair and equitable access at reasonable prices to supplies of raw materials and other essential imports. Such assurances should include explicit constraints against the use of the export embargo as an instrument of foreign policy.
Support for East European Democracy - The SEED Act, signed into law in November 1989, contained 25 distinct actions to support structural adjustment, private sector development, trade and investment, and educational, cultural, and scientific activities in Poland and Hungary. Funding for most of the actions was provided by the Agency for International Development. The SEED Act expired at the end of fiscal year 1990. Since then support has been provided under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1991. See: Foreign Assistance Act of 1991.
Surveillance - This involves the monitoring of trade practices to help ensure that governments implement their obligations under trade agreements. One of the objectives of the negotiating group on Functioning of the GATT System (FOGS) is to improve GATT surveillance of trade policies and practices of Contracting Parties.
Surveillance Body - A body created by the Uruguay Round Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) to monitor implementation by contracting parties of their standstill and rollback commitments. The Surveillance Body will transmit its records and reports to the TNC, so that the latter may conduct periodic evaluations of the implementation of the commitments.
Suspension of Investigation - A decision to suspend an antidumping investigation if the exporters who account for substantially all of the imported merchandise agree to stop exports to the U.S. or agree to revise their prices promptly to eliminate any dumping margin. An investigation may be suspended at any time before a final determination is made. No agreement to suspend an investigation may be made unless effective monitoring of the agreement is practicable and is determined to be in the public interest. See: Tariff Act of 1930.
Suspension of Liquidation - If affirmative, the preliminary determination of dumping or subsidization, or final determination after a negative preliminary determination, provides for suspension of liquidation of all entries of merchandise subject to the determination which are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption, on or after the date of the publication of the notice in the Federal Register. Customs is directed to require a cash deposit, or the posting of a bond or other security, for each entry affected equal to the estimated amount of the subsidy or the amount by which the fair value exceeds the U.S. price. When an administrative review is completed, Customs is directed to collect the final subsidy rate or amount by which the foreign market value exceeds the U.S. price, and to require for each entry thereafter a cash deposit equal to the newly determined subsidy rate or margin of dumping. See: Tariff Act of 1930.
Swap Network - The swap network is a series of bilateral arrangements between the Federal Reserve and fourteen foreign central banks and the Bank for International Settlements providing standby reciprocal facilities for obtaining foreign currencies. The facilities provide for the swap (simultaneous spot purchase and forward sale) of each other's currency by the Federal Reserve and the respective foreign central bank. Swap drawings typically have a three-month maturity, with an understanding that they may be more or less automatically rolled over for another three months.
Swaps - Swaps take dozens of forms but often entail the exchange of one type of asset or payment for another. Some of the more common forms are: cross-border; currency; debt-for-charity; debt-for-commodity; debt-for-debt; debt-for-development; debt-for-equity; debt-for-export; debt-for-local-currency; debt-for-nature; discount; dual currency; interest rate; inward; premium; reverse; and vanilla. Minor variation in names is common. Currency swaps convert principal from the lender's currency into the debtor's currency and receiving interest payments in the debtor's currency. The swap, made to protect the principal from future changes in foreign exchange rates, involves a forward exchange contract to recover the currency involved. Debt swaps entail replacing the foreign liabilities of a debtor country with ownership or rights of value. A debt-for-equity swap replaces foreign liabilities with a stake in the debtor country's national enterprises; a debt-for-export swap replaces foreign liabilities with an arrangement to receive proceeds from the overseas sale of the debtor country's products or commodities; a debt-for-debt swap replaces an existing foreign liability with a new commitment from the debtor country. Interest rate swaps involve agreements on the means for exchanging future cash flows. Single currency interest rate swaps concern exchanging future cash flow in the same currency and offer a means for modifying the impact of future changes in interest rates on a company's profitability. Cross currency interest rate swaps concern exchanging future cash flows between one currency and another, traded either on a fixed or floating rate, and offer a means for limited the risk of converting financial interests between currencies. Swaps also involve arrangements whereby different sellers of similar commodities swap and deliver them to each other's customer if such action saves transportation costs. See: Derivatives.
SWEDECORP - Swedish International Enterprise Development Corporation
Swedish International Development Authority - SIDA, an agency responsible to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, administers the greater portion of Swedish development cooperation. Swedish development assistance is directed toward five goals: economic growth, economic and social equality, economic and political independence, democratic development, and environmental quality. About 50 percent of Sweden's development assistance is directed toward a limited number of designated "program countries" in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and involves negotiated efforts to integrate external assistance and long-term development strategies. The remaining assistance is allocated to UN agencies, international development banks, and about 90 countries. The Authority was established in 1965; headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden. See: Swedish International Enterprise Development Corporation.
Swedish International Enterprise Development Corporation - SwedeCorp, a government funded under Sweden's aid program, supports enterprise development through joint venture investments in developing countries and in Central and Eastern Europe. The Corporation also encourages the transfer of industiral and commercial knowledge from Sweden to third world countries and promotes exports from developing countries to Sweden. The Corporation was formed in July 1991 based on a reorganization of international industry assistance programs; headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden. See: Swedish International Development Authority.
SWIFT - Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions
Switch Arrangements - A form of countertrade in which unused purchase rights under government-to-government trade (clearing agreements) on unwanted goods received by a firm in a countertrade transaction are sold at a discount to buyers for cash.
Syn. - Syndicate (Lloyd's)
System for Tracking Export License Applications - STELA is a BXA computer-generated voice unit that interfaces with the BXA database: ECASS (Export Control Automated Support System). STELA enables a caller to check on an export license by making a telephone call. 202-482-2752