Telecom Industry Groups Rail Against Global Trade Barriers, in Comments to USTR
There's a long list of tariff and non-tariff barriers for U.S. telecommunications exports, ranging from redundant Chinese conformity assessments to Indian duties and Hungarian Internet traffic taxes, said industry groups in comments filed to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in recent days. USTR asked in November for U.S. industry comments on telecom sections in trade agreements (see 1411110004). The Computer and Communications Industry Association, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), U.S. Council of International Business and two others filed comments to USTR (here). The comments were due Dec. 5 and replies are due Dec. 19.
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Requirements for use of local materials are damaging U.S. market access in Brazil and Nigeria, while Germany and South Korea continue to put in place discriminatory government procurement policies, said TIA. The Brazilian government required companies prove local content in “a high percentage of products, equipment, and telecommunications systems” during a September auction for 450 MHz and 2.5 GHz bands, TIA said.
The South Korea government uses a local “cryptographic standard for Internet Protocol telephony,” TIA said. “Rather than relying on indigenous standards to develop specifications for government procurement bids, we would urge the Korean government to utilize internationally developed standards where such relevant international standards exist, per global practices and consistent with the [World Trade Organization Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade].” The South Korean government also continues to use a security verification mechanism that may violate the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, said TIA. The association said China and India also follow discriminatory testing and assessment procedures, and Russia imposes burdensome import license requirements.
Along with a range of other barriers, the Indian government is leveling a 10 percent increase in tariffs for some telecom products in the country’s 2014-2015 fiscal year, said TIA, noting that import tariffs are required for various products, such as Voice over Internet Protocol. “While the government of India has stated its belief that these products and technologies are not under the purview of the WTO [Information Technology Agreement], TIA’s analysis strongly suggests that these products, regardless of the underlying technology within the products, are covered by the ITA and should continue to receive duty-free treatment,” said TIA.
CCIA rattled off a raft of data localization barriers across the globe, including many of the countries noted in TIA’s comments. The U.S. Council of International Business focused on other burdensome and inhibiting regulatory barriers. Trilogy International Partners in its comments criticized regulatory burdens in the Dominican Republic and New Zealand, while Avantel complained about the regulatory environment for foreign investment in Colombia.