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with the countries of Eastern Europe are not conducted on
the basis of those nations being taken as a bloc. Relations are governed by a mix of U.S. law and GATT provisions which results in a wide range of treatment among the countries of the region.
In one category, are the East European countries which are not GATT members and with which the U.S. has no institutionalized trade relations. The USSR, GDR, Albania and Bulgaria fall into this category, although Bulgaria has observer status in GATT.
In a second category, we find the non-market economy (NME) Eastern European countries which are nevertheless GATT contracting parties under special arrangements. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania fall into this category.
Finally, there is the rather special case of
Yugoslavia, which, while technically within Eastern
Europe, is not a NME country and which, for all practical purposes is treated as a non-aligned developing country member of GATT.