The International Trade Administration at the US Department of Commerce takes the lead on Market Access and Compliance (MAC), to assist exporters expand their share of the global export market.

MAC’s core mission is to aggressively support US business interests abroad, leveraging diplomatic, law enforcement and trade agreements with foreign trading partners. The ITA team, located throughout the US and at overseas offices, has a great track record of staying in lockstep with US companies involved in global trade. They think and act with a sense of urgency, which those of us who’ve worked in the startup sector can truly appreciate.

Trade barriers are legal (tariffs, embargos) and illegal (piracy and counterfeiting) The work done by the MAC division at ITA is shaped by real-world challenges faced by American exporters and workers.

What we commonly define as “Barriers” is open to debate, but nearly all of us might apply the term to any of these three scenarios:

procurements by foreign governments that favor particular suppliers

higher taxes in foreign markets than similar, locally produced products

difficulty protecting or enforcing IP in a particular country

The more complex, unique, or technical your company’s solutions, the more you need to know about MAC.

Check out yet another valuable federal resource, TCC On-Line (www.trade.gov/tcc). Need to report a trade barrier? Visit the site and click on Report A Barrier.