Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) called for comments on...
Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) called for comments on impact of tariff reductions and nontariff barriers to trade in goods and services, including in telecom sector, between World Trade Organization (WTO) members as part of Doha, Qatar, Development…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Agenda negotiations. USTR released U.S. proposals in July for negotiations, including recommendations that WTO members remove discriminatory trade restrictions in telecom and IT sectors (CD July 3 p6). New multilateral trade negotiations were begun in Nov. at 4th Ministerial Conference in Doha, where WTO members signed on to program to liberalize trade across several areas, including services. Next deadline for submitting formal negotiating offers to respond to recent round of proposals is March 31. Besides comment period opened by USTR, interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will hold public hearing on market access issues starting Nov. 6 and extending into other days if necessary. Communications services in Doha negotiations include telecom and audiovisual. TPSC is seeking comment and testimony on economic benefits and costs faced by U.S. on proposed reductions in tariffs or nontariff trade challenges between U.S. and other WTO members and on economic impact of removing existing nontariff barriers to trade.