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U.S., Europe Clash Over Tech Trade
by Winter Casey
Some people in the U.S. technology industry hope the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will challenge the European Union for allegedly attempting to remove products from the list of those covered under a global trade agreement.
The World Trade Organization's Information Technology Agreement, which took effect in 1997, was created as a tariff-cutting mechanism. Participants must completely eliminate duties IT products covered in the deal, which is viewed as beneficial to the tech sector worldwide.
Some companies in EU nations allegedly have been targeting products that many U.S. tech companies are manufacturing and exporting to Europe. "The ITA is an important concern for a number of large tech companies whose products are being or could be affected by how the EU has interpreted the ITA and whether products are covered," an industry source said. "We have been working with companies on this concern for quite a while."
Mike Nunes of the Telecommunications Industry Association said his group "is committed to continuing its dialogue with Europe regarding the ITA while taking the very clear position that the EU is violating the agreement. We support and encourage efforts by the U.S. government to bring the EU into compliance."
In August, more than two dozen lawmakers, including House Ways and Means Committee member Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y, signed a letter to the USTR expressing concern about European actions. "If allowed to persist, the [European Commission's] actions will not only erode the ITA's gains but also confidence in the sanctity of trade agreements," the letter said.
At the end of September, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab responded to Crowley by saying she shares his concerns and has been taking steps "to persuade the EU to reverse its course on this issue."
"We remain hopeful that we can resolve this issue through continued bilateral and multilateral discussions," Schwab wrote. "We are prepared, however, to consider all available options to ensure that the [commission] lives up to its WTO commitments with respect to these ITA products."
According to a Capitol Hill staffer, some lawmakers have not been satisfied by USTR's response thus far, and Crowley's office is talking with other lawmakers about the next step.
Tech and business groups such as AeA, the Association for Competitive Technology, the European-American Business Council, the Information Technology Industry Council and TIA have been following the issue. Sources in the tech community said they expect USTR to act soon and possibly announce a formal WTO dispute-resolution case against Europe as early as January.
"I think you will see significant movement on this front over the next few months," according to one source speaking on background. Another source said USTR has had discussions with industry on a possible WTO case, "but I can't say if a final decision has been made" about filing one.
An additional source said he expects a 2008 USTR case on the issue because the infraction is real and the European Union has made it clear it will not change policy. He said he expects Congress to support U.S. industry and USTR on action against the European Union.
A spokesman for the USTR did not return a press inquiry by deadline.
Singapore Opens Nanotech Facility
Singapore has opened Southeast Asia's first facility that can measure tiny units on the nanoscale, or up to one nanometer, Channel NewsAsia reports.
The center will enable local companies, which require highly precise measurements, to calibrate their products at home rather than overseas. A local facility is designed to reduce costs for those firms and improve global competitiveness for Singapore. The facility "is also a key step towards making Singapore a [center] for nanotech-related standards and metrology," according to the news source.
The global nanotechnology industry is projected to be worth an estimated $1 trillion by 2010, Channel NewsAsia states.
In other news, the Finnish national nanotech initiative and the China International Nanotech Innovation Cluster agreed this month to a cooperation agreement. The agreement is part of an initiative the countries signed in January to promote nanotech research and put Sino-Finnish nanotech products on the market by 2010.
Nanotechnology is one of the key elements of Finnish innovation policy, according to the country's Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation.
Survey: British Youth May Regret Web Postings
Up to 71 percent of young people from Britain would not want schools or potential employers to conduct Internet searches on them unless they could first remove content from social-networking sites, according to research by the United Kingdom information commissioner's office.
"Many young people are posting content online without thinking about the electronic footprint they leave behind," said David Smith, deputy commissioner for the office, in a statement. Smith said the research shows "that when young people are made aware that their details could be being passed between parties -- legitimate or unscrupulous -- they are worried."
The office found that close to six in 10 youth have not considered that their online materials might be accessible permanently. The survey also found that eight in 10 girls from ages 16 to 17 accept people they don't know as 'friends' on social networks, and more than seven in 10 are not concerned that their personal profiles can be viewed by strangers.
The office has launched a Web site to educate young people on their "information rights" and safe social-networking practices.
Site Covers U.S., Chinese Environmental Law
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a Web site to act as a forum for sharing information and encouraging communication with Chinese counterparts on environmental law.
China has been plagued by severe environmental problems. The Environmental Law Initiative "features information on new developments in Chinese environmental law, links to legal resources such as reports, articles and the English text of many Chinese environmental laws, and an e-mail update service," according to the EPA.
Collaborators in the project include the Environmental Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, the Woodrow Wilson Center's China Environment Forum, the University of Maryland environmental law program, and George Washington University's law school.
'We've learned in the United States you can't have a strong environment without strong environmental laws," EPA General Counsel Roger Martella said in a statement. "The Chinese government and people have expressed a commitment to a stronger environment, and we expect that this initiative will help China realize that goal, while helping Americans better understand China's environmental laws."
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