TIA saluted the efforts of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Commitee and anticipated a full vote on the House floor at press time Wednesday on H.R. 3688, the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA). TIA supports the Peru TPA and the other pending trade agreements for their market-leveling language in favor of the U.S. ICT industry. 

Last week, the Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved the Peru TPA, and a full floor vote was pending at press time. TIA now urges the House and the Senate to approve the agreement. The TPA provides many benefits for the U.S. economy, particularly in the tech/telecom sector, where the U.S. market has been relatively easy to enter, while tariffs have long existed in Peru and other Latin American countries. 

Meanwhile, TIA President Grant Seiffert attended Tuesday's White House Forum on International Trade and Investment and echoed the President's call for Congress to pass all four pending trade agreements, Peru, Colombia, Panama and South Korea. The Forum, attended by sector heads and other representatives of major U.S. economic sectors, served as an educational briefing and discussion period on the benefits of the FTAs to U.S. business.  More than 5,000 U.S. companies export to Peru, according to the U.S.-Peru Trade Coalition, and more than 80 percent of those are the same kind of small and medium-sized companies that make up a majority of TIA's members.

For more information on TIA's free trade efforts, please contact Michael Nunes at mnunes@tiaonline.org or +1.703.907.7725.

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The Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC), which is developing recommendations to the United States Access Board on updating Rehabilitation Act 508 standards for electronic and information technology and its Telecommunications Act guidelines, will hold its next meeting the week of November 13-16. Subcommittee deliberations have been completed, and all further discussion is being conducted by the committee as a whole, particularly on those issues identified as unresolved in the October meeting. 

The committee plans to present its recommendations to the Board in January. The November meeting will take place at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Those who wish to attend must pre-register and follow NSF procedures, including its computer security policy. 

For more information, visit the Board’s Web site at www.access-board.gov/sec508/update-index.htm, the committee’s Web site at http://teitac.org/, or contact Tim Creagan at creagan@access-board.gov, +1.202.272.0016 (v), or +1.202.272.0082 (TTY).

TEITAC Meeting Schedule

• November 13-16  –  Meeting
• December 18 (1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.EST)  – Teleconference
• January 7-9 –  Presentation to the Board

TIA's work for the disability community continues with TEITAC as TIA’s Regulatory and Government Affairs Manager Becky Schwartz moderated a panel last week at the IDEAS 2007 conference in D.C., which fostered in-depth discussions of technology solutions for government procurement, in particular addressing questions on various emerging and established technologies for the deaf and hard-of-hearing applicable to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Other panelists included Jim House of Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; Karl Ewan of Sprint; and Michael Young of the Department of Defense Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program.

For more information on TIA's work in the accessibility space, please contact Becky Schwartz at +1.703.907.7477 or rschwartz@tiaonline.org.

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A week of ICT-favorable votes and markups on the Hill was highlighted by the unanimous passage of H.R. 3678, the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 2007, sponsored by Representatives John Conyers (D-Mich.), Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), Chris Cannon (R-Utah) and Rick Boucher (D-Va.). The House moved rapidly to pass the latest version of the bill, with amendments passed by the Senate last week, by a vote of 402-0. The bill would extend the soon-to-expire moratorium on Internet access taxes and multiple or discriminatory taxes on online transactions through November 2014. 

TIA urged President Bush to sign the bill into law in advance of the current moratorium's November 1 expiration date. Sustaining the moratorium would protect access to the Internet as well as the growth of innovative technology in the ICT sector. Such technology is the engine of the American economy and will help keep Internet access within reach of the American public. In a time when the government is busy formulating the best methods for deploying broadband, a strong disincentive to network investment like an Internet access tax could undo a decade of positive trends.

Meanwhile, TIA applauded the House Energy and Commerce Committee in reporting out H.R. 3919, the Broadband Census of America Act of 2007. The bill, which will not only provide for the collection and dissemination of information about our nation’s broadband infrastructure but provide consumers with an opportunity to be more aware of their choices, was sponsored by Telecom and Internet Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.). The bill was resubmitted with some additional language that resulted in unanimous support from the committe.  TIA looks forward to working with the committee to ensure swift passage on the House floor.

In the Senate, S. 1853, the Community Broadband Act of 2007, was reported out of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation without amendment. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), preserves local governments' ability to provide broadband capability and services. It specifically prohibits any state or local government from stopping any public provider from providing advanced telecommunications capability, or services using "advanced telecommunications capability" – broadband – and keeps the door open for community deployment and local choice. TIA will continue to work to see the Community Broadband Act of 2007 passed on the Senate floor.

TIA continues to monitor this and other legislation currently pending in Congress. This successful week is only one step toward the goal of ubiquitous broadband, wireless and connectivity for all Americans.

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TIA Director of International & Government Affairs Mike Nunes testified this week before the International Trade Commission (ITC) as part three of the ITC's three-part investigation to provide an assessment to the House Ways and Means Committee on U.S. trade with China. Nunes presented issues important to the ICT industry, both in direct testimony and under questioning from the commissioners. 

China is the sixth largest export market for U.S. telecommunications equipment, consuming $826 million annually in such products, chiefly component parts, apparati and fiber, while China exported about $18 billion in such products, chiefly finished cell phones, to the United States last year. The whopping U.S. telecom equipment trade imbalance with China, approximately $17.3 billion in 2006, is indicative of the overall U.S.-China trade relationship, Nunes said, where the total deficit in U.S. trade with China is approaching $164 billion in the first eight months of 2007. However, he added, the U.S. telecom equipment trade relationship with China is complex and deserves to be examined with a view to the overall technology market in China, much of which is comprised of U.S. and other foreign technology companies that are directly invested in the market.

Nunes's testimony addressed the various market opportunities and impediments to U.S. trade in China, including the exciting increase in Chinese demand for foreign ICT products and threatening "indigenous innovation" policy that may shut U.S. companies out of government procurement in China.

The hearing stemmed from a request by the Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives that the ITC prepare a series of three reports under section 332(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 332(g)) on U.S.-China trade.  The current study was instituted by the ITC for the second report, No. 332-491, on the effects of U.S.-China trade on specific sectors of the economy.

TIA will continue to be available to ITC staff as the study progresses.

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This week, the General Services Administration is hosting IDEAS 2007, its annual conference on Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center on Mount Vernon Place. TIA Regulatory & Government Affairs Manager Becky Schwartz will moderate a panel on November 1, 1:45 p.m.-2:45 p.m., on technology for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. 

During this session, Schwartz will lead a discussion on which technology solutions are available for procurement purposes and the cost related to providing these solutions, as well as the security and privacy aspects of each.  Panelists will include Jim House, Public Relations and Resource Development Officer, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing; Karl Ewan, Agency Liaison for Federal Relay, Sprint; and Michael Young, CAPTEC Manager, Department of Defense Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program.

For more information on TIA's involvement with IDEAS 2007, please contact Ian Martinez at imartinez@tiaonline.org or +1.703.907.7723.

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