Expand Standards-Setting Bodies Exemption, ITI Tells Commerce
The Commerce Department should expand an exemption to allow U.S. companies to participate in standards-setting bodies that have members designated on the Entity List (see 2006160035), the Information Technology Industry Council said in a set of recommendations to the Biden administration. If the exemption isn’t expanded, the U.S. will risk ceding further “ground, influence, and leadership to foreign competitors” in international technology standards development, ITI said Feb. 10.
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Industry has previously urged Commerce to expand the current exemption or issue a new rule so U.S. companies can rely on clear language that will protect them from inadvertently violating export control laws at standards bodies (see 2112170037). Although industry has worked with BIS on crafting a rule to expand the exemption, the agency hasn’t yet issued any other authorizations (see 2109150036).
Because there is no clear exemption, companies have been “inadvertently restricted from participating fully” in standards bodies that have members on the Entity List, ITI said. This “undermines U.S. technology leadership,” the organization said, and “necessitates an immediate regulatory fix to exempt routine standards development activity from overly restrictive export controls. A BIS spokesperson declined to comment.
ITI also urged the administration to shift its China trade policy to better pressure the government on important trade issues. “Recent overreliance and expanded use of export controls, tariffs, and policies misdirected at routine technical standards development have hurt U.S. workers, consumers, and companies,” ITI said. “The Administration should amend policies that have not achieved their goals and even impeded U.S. innovation and leadership.”