This week saw a burst of activity for U.S.-China trade policy, including significant developments in China's quasi-protectionist rules around network deployment. 

The U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) was underway this week, with high level trade officials stepping in for the discussions.  China experts from the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative's Office led discussions on a numbers of fronts, including issues recommended by TIA on behalf of its members. These included 3G mobile licensing, mobile handset importation, optical fiber market access, and product testing and certification.  China confirmation that it would lower the registered capital requirements for U.S. telecommunications service providers to operate in China was a significantly positive outcome for our members and U.S. industry.

Also, last week was the first ever "United States-China Innovation Conference," an outgrowth of the second U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) that brought together public and private sector experts from both countries in a dialogue to discuss the often complex nature of innovation and how to realize the potential of the information technology in both countries.    U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez and Chinese Ministry of Standards and Technology Secretary Li Xueyong were the lead participants, and drew the praise of industry for identifying technological innovation as a key driver to both economies.

For questions or comments on TIA's China policy work, please contact Michael Nunes at mnunes@tiaonline.org.

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TIA’s Technical Regulatory Issues Committee (TRIC) met with the staff of FCC Labs in Columbia, Md., this week. 

Areas of focus in the meeting included: The status of the Telecommunications Certification Body (TCB) Exclusion List; TCB Approval for Software Defined Radios; New TCB Surveillance Guidelines; Streamlined Laptop Approval; Class 2 Permissive Changes; Recommendations to Streamline the Product Certification Process; The FCC Enforcement Model, in which the Enforcement Bureau now takes the lead on all non-compliance matters, rather than Offoce of Engineering and Technology.

For members seeking more information on TIA's TRIC and its work with the FCC, please contact Patrick Donovan at pdonovan@tiaonline.org.

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The featured guest of TIA’s final Broadband and Technology luncheon of 2007 will be Senator John Sununu (R-N.H.). Senator Sununu is a member of the Senate Commerce Committee with vast knowledge and interest in technology and communications issues; New Hampshire boasts one of the highest growth rates in ICT jobs in the United States. Senator Sununu was also one of the strongest proponents for permanently extending the Internet Tax Moratorium, making him a major ally of industry and consumers nationwide. 

TIA expects this to be a highly informative lunch to finish the year.  Senator Sununu's commentary is sure to provide some insight into the future telecom agenda.

The luncheon will be held tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 13, and is open to TIA member companies.  

For more information on the B&T Luncheon series please contact Tom Shull at tshull@tiaonline.org.

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TIA praised the U.S. Senate for its decisive action in approving H.R. 3688, The United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) Implementation Act, by a vote of 77-18 this week. The bill will implement a trade agreement, first signed in April 2006 and revised this past May, which greatly reduces unfair impediments to entry into the Peruvian market. TIA has long advocated approval of the U.S.-Peru TPA, as well the three other completed U.S. trade agreements – with Panama, Colombia and South Korea.

The TPA will benefit TIA member companies, as well as the broader U.S. economy. Currently, the U.S. market is wide open to Peruvian products, while U.S. goods face tariffs as high as 25 percent in Peru. Under the agreement, tariffs on U.S. information and communication technology (ICT) equipment will be eliminated, and U.S. exports to Peru are expected to increase. TIA members will benefit from reductions in non-tariff barriers, including improvements in intellectual property rights protection and facilitated customs processing. The U.S.-Peru trade agreement, together with the other completed trade agreements, would contribute to continued growth for the U.S. ICT sector. Accordingly, TIA urges Congress to approve the trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and Korea as soon as possible.

“Tariff elimination is a key element in fueling demand for U.S. high tech products in Peru, where growth of wireless and broadband is in double digits” said TIA President Grant Seiffert.  “Looking ahead, we anticipate significant growth opportunities in overseas markets, where over 72 percent of our industry’s revenues are generated,” he added. “Approving all pending trade agreements will demonstrate a strong U.S. commitment to a fairer, more open global economy.”

For more information on TIA's free trade advocacy please contact Michael Nunes at mnunes@tiaonline.org.

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TIA Director of International and Government Affairs Michael Nunes took part in a panel discussion on U.S-Korea high tech trade partnerships as part of a delegation of high-ranking Korean trade and technology officials this week, hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-Korea Business Council in cooperation with the Korea Industrial Technology Foundation (KOTEF).

Nunes spoke Tuesday with moderator Robert C. Reis, Executive Vice President, U.S.-Korea Business Council, and fellow panelists Kyeong-hak Seo, Senior Vice President, Korea Electronics Technology Institute, and Yeong-chul Seok, Senior Research Fellow, Korea Industrial Technology Foundation. They discussed opportunities in high-tech and electronics trade between the two countries, which currently have a trade agreement pending in the U.S. Senate.

Following the meeting, TIA announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding/friendship agreement between KOTEF and TIA, attended by the Korean Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Energy, Mr. Kim Young-ju. The agreement is a first step in what TIA hopes will be series of cooperative programs between the two organizations; the first official program took place on December 5 at TIA headquarters in Arlington, Va., and was designed to help Korean regional innovation officers facilitate cooperation and the exchange of technology and human resources and develop international joint research projects by conducting research on the present status of U.S. industrial technology development. The groups also hope to build personnel networks and channels between Korean and American business entities and government bodies.

For more information on TIA's U.S.-Korea trade efforts contact Michael Nunes at mnunes@tiaonline.org or Tyler Messa at tmessa@tiaonline.org.

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TIA is proud to announce its sponsorship of Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc's (TDI) annual holiday party on Friday, December 7 from 6:30-10:00 p.m.. TIA, TDI and other stakeholders will celebrate another year of working together to improve communications access to all consumers. The party will be different from previous years in that TDI will honor two respected members of Congress for their years of hard work supporting the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. 

TDI will honor Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) for their work in this area, and will present a list of other festivities. Harkin is due to receive the first Karen Peltz-Strauss Public Policy Award for his leadership as a legislator for the disabled, and Markey will receive a 25th Anniversary framed painting in recognition of what TDI calls his "many, many years of support for TV closed captioning access."

For more information on the TDI holiday party, p lease contact Patrick Donovan at pdonovan@tiaonline.org.

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