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Trade and Economic Data: Many Federal Agencies Collect and Disseminate Information

NSIAD-91-173 Published: May 01, 1991. Publicly Released: May 31, 1991.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on foreign economic data available to U.S. businesses and policymakers, focusing on the: (1) federal agencies that collect and disseminate foreign economic and trade data; (2) ways in which executive and legislative agencies use this information; (3) extent of agency coordination in collecting and disseminating these data; and (4) methods government agencies use to disseminate data to private-sector users.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce Consistent with his responsibility for managing NTDB, the Secretary of Commerce should direct NTDB officials to add databases from those GAO identified to be of greatest interest to NTDB users.
Closed – Not Implemented
Commerce's Office of Business Analysis has begun reviewing databases identified by GAO for possible inclusion in NTDB. Because the review is an ongoing process, there is no need to carry over this recommendation.

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Topics

CentralizationDatabasesData collectionEconomic analysisEconomic espionageEconomic researchGovernment information disseminationInteragency relationsInternational economic relationsInternational trade