A NEW team of US trade enforcers will make countries think twice about putting up unfair barriers to American exports, President Barack Obama's top trade official said.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in an interview that the team will include intelligence officials as well as representatives of other agencies in order to beef up US resources and crack open markets.

"We want to make sure we aren't resource-constrained. Other countries know our budget and our resources ... and so they'll game the system because they know that we're very discriminating on which cases we make," Kirk said.

"We don't want them to make ... that bet that we don't have the resources to come after them if they're intentionally and unfairly discriminating against American exporters," Kirk said, speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He did not identify countries that could attract the attention of the unit, but Obama is under pressure to show business and voters he is taking a tough stance against China in trade issues. Republican presidential candidates have slammed Obama's policy towards China ahead of November's elections.

The US trade deficit with China may have hit a record US$300 billion in 2011. Obama has set a target of doubling total US exports between 2010 and 2015.

Kirk's office negotiates and enforces trade deals. But it has only about 250 employees, which could tempt countries to think they can flout world trade rules, Kirk said.