Employs American ways (4)

I believe the answer is:

uses

'employs' is the definition.
('use' can be a synonym of 'employ')

'american ways' is the wordplay.
'american' becomes 'US' (abbreviation for United States).
'ways' becomes 'es' (east and south - two directions).
'us'+'es'='USES'

(Other definitions for uses that I've seen before include "Operates" , "Employs" , "'Purposes, functions (4)'" , "Utilises" , "Employments" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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