Overview
India is one of the world's fastest growing markets for information and communications technologies (ICTs). It is a signatory to both the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and the Basic Telecommunications and Value-Added Services Agreement (BTA).
In acknowledgement of the impact of the ICT sector on economic relations, U.S. President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh initiated the bilateral Information and Communications Technology working group in July 2005 as part of the U.S.- India Economic Dialogue. The group has meetings alternating between capitals, and the inaugural meeting was held in December 2005 in Washington, D.C. The ICT working group complements the existing bilateral meetings such as the High-Technology Cooperation Group and the Trade Policy Forum.
As co-chair, TIA supports the U.S.-India ICT Working Group and provides policy input into the dialogue. We work with both the U.S. and Indian governments to represent TIA member and industry views and to provide examples of the impact of policy and regulation on market development, growth and investment.
TIA coordinated and submitted the U.S. telecommunications subcommittee’s policy recommendations to the U.S. Department of State for the meeting of the U.S. India-ICT Working Group on December 13, 2011 in New Delhi, India. Pulling together input from TIA members and other companies, including major U.S. Service Providers, TIA’s Telecommunications Subcommittee Policy Paper focused on in-country security testing requirements, indigenous manufacturing, spectrum, licensing and IP-enabled services issues.
We hope that China will use this break in the negotiations to reexamine its approach to the negotiations to expand the ITA and focus on reducing its overly large list of sensitive products. If China is ready to move forward to conclude the expansion of the ITA this year then the ITA Expansion is achievable this year.
As part of a large U.S. industry delegation representing a broad array of ICT manufacturers, TIA is in Geneva, Switzerland this week to cheer on the trade negotiators who are working hard to conclude the negotiations to expand the product coverage of the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement (ITA). The ITA remains one of the most commercially important WTO trade agreements – by eliminating tariffs on a broad range of ICT products, the ITA lowers the cost and improves access to these products, which are vital to the economic competitiveness of all economies around the world.
The Telecommunications Industry Association was in Geneva last week along with AdvaMed, the Consumer Electronics Association, the Entertainment Software Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, the Liquid Crystal Polymer Coalition, the Motion Picture Association of America, and the Semiconductor Industry Association. This coalition of high-tech companies represents a broad spectrum of manufacturers and service providers in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.
Last week was a busy one at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. The signs are very encouraging that the member countries of the WTO are back on track to move the WTO’s trade liberalization agenda forward – from the new International Services Agreement (ISA) to the ongoing negotiations to expand the existing WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA).
