Advocacy on Pending Trade Agreements

Overview

TIA member companies sell products and equipment in all regions of the world. To promote a truly global communications market, TIA encourages full, fair, and open competition in all domestic and international markets.

TIA actively addresses key market access barriers members face while conducting business abroad. These include traditional barriers such as import duties; discrimination in government procurement (particularly when the dominant telecommunications service provider is government-owned or controlled); and import substitution measures, such as buy-local policies and local content mandates. Other issues addressed by TIA that impact U.S. manufacturers' and suppliers' ability to sell abroad include, spectrum management; foreign equipment certification processes; standards development and deployment; barriers to competition in the national telecom services market; and policy issues related to global electronic commerce.

TIA's advocacy on trade policy issues is conducted in a variety of ways. We regularly submit filings for the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) annual Section 1377 review of international compliance with telecommunications trade agreements, as well as its annual National Trade Estimate Report, which details significant foreign trade barriers to U.S. exports. Additionally, we submit letters supporting free-trade agreements to leading members of Congress. In order to communicate our members' concerns and advocate on their behalf, we participate in trade coalitions with other associations. We also conduct meetings with, and submit comments to, U.S. government officials at USTR, the Department of Commerce, the Department of State, the U.S. International Trade Commission and foreign governments. Moreover, TIA promotes the enforcement of existing trade agreements, the concept of technology neutrality, and the principles of transparency, non-discrimination and independence of regulatory authorities. Developed through member-company consensus, these trade principles guide the association's trade policy messages.

• Position Papers

• U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (Word Document)
• Korea - U.S. Free Trade Agreement (Word Document)
• U.S. Panama Free Trade Agreement (Word Document)
• The European Union’s Erosion of the WTO Information Technology Agreement (Word Document)

TIA and the WTO

The World Trade Organization is an international organization established on January 1, 1995, which is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was founded in 1948. For more on member issues related to the the WTO, see TIA's World Trade Organization page.

Recent Activities

Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement

• GLOBAL MARKET INSIGHTS: Guide to Doing Business in South Korea (members only)
• TIA Letter to USTR Regarding US-Korea FTA (2/7/2007)
• TIA Applauds Launch of U.S.-Korea FTA Negotiations
• U.S.-Korea FTA Benefits to Telecommunications
• TIA U.S.-Korea FTA Submission to USTR

Colombia-U.S. Free Trade Agreement

• U.S Colombia Agreement (pdf, 30kb)

• Archived Free Trade Agreement Submissions

• For additional letters, visit the TIA free trade archives.

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• For more information on the U.S. Government’s trade policies, visit the Office of the United States Trade Representative.