Saying there was an ‘incredibly powerful connection between econo...

trade out of the U.S. covered by some kind of standard, the U.S.’s objective is to get the world headed toward this country’s standards system, which is industry- rather than govt.-.driven, Evans said at a news briefing. The Dept. of Commerce will: (1) Charge the Technology Administration (TA), through the National Institute of Standards & Technology, with conducting a standards activity assessment of all existing Commerce programs as well as efforts to reduce standards-related trade barriers. (2) Create a best practices database. (3) Expand Commerce’s “early warning system” for market intelligence on standards development in key priority markets in Europe, Latin America and Asia. (4) Partner with the President’s Export Council on Standards Leadership for increased dialog on standards issues. (5) Hold a series of industry-specific roundtables on the most pressing issues and priority foreign markets. (6) Appoint a liaison at the International Trade Administration to liaise with U.S. industry on standards issues. The first roundtable, in late April, will be held with Information Technology Industry Council members, TA Deputy Undersecy. Benjamin Wu said. The initiative will create a cadre of well-trained standards personnel to train others, said Grant Aldonas, undersecy.-international trade. Europe will be part of that focus, he said, because the European Commission is racing to harmonize standards in order to lock out U.S. standards. The program also will home in on China, Aldonas said, to make sure its govt. understands the importance of uniform standards to its marketplace. Asked about industry complaints that U.S. regulatory agencies were blocking common standards, Aldonas said the govt. and Congress needed a “sea change” in their thinking. The U.S. competes on a global level, he said, and the Commerce initiative will help other agencies recognize that.