The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has announced the launch of an investigation of the Australia, Singapore and Chile free trade agreements (FTA). Specifically, the USITC said it will “identify products that are the subject of long US or partner-country tariff phase-out periods under these three agreements and for which an anomalous post-FTA trade pattern has been observed,” and evaluate possible causes of the anomalies. The investigation will also look into additional anomalies in the “trade of other products and services” under these agreements, the USITC said in a statement.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) requested the investigations in April 2010 to augment the current analysis being conducted by the USITC for the development of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). The investigation report is to be completed by 13 December 2010.