Advocacy on Pending Trade Agreements
Recent Activity:
TIA urges Congress and the White House to work together to approve the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.
- U.S Columbia Agreement (pdf, 30kb)
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 also addresses U.S. policies that affect the ability of TIA members to sell abroad, such as export controls.
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. 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's International Trade Principles promote 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.