Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 12, 1994                   TAG: 9401120323
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IN BUSINESS

WASHINGTON - U.S. trade barriers cost American consumers more than $70 billion annually, but that figure should be cut almost in half by a recently completed global trade agreement, a Washington research group said Tuesday.

The Institute for International Economics said that while the 117-nation effort to lower trade barriers did not accomplish all that it could, the agreement will result in significant gains for U.S. consumers, especially in such highly protected areas as clothing and textiles.

In a report, the institute estimated that tariffs, quotas and other barriers to imports cost American consumers $70.3 billion a year, or about $1,000 for the average family. - Associated Press