TIA Praises U.S-China Agreement on China's Accession
to WTO
Arlington, Va. -- TIA applauds the governments
of the United States and China for reaching a bilateral
agreement on China's accession to the World Trade
Organization (WTO).
The accord is a major step forward in securing China's
full accession into the global trading system. While no
details of the agreement have yet been announced, TIA
expects that the agreement will ensure adequate market
access for U.S. telecom equipment suppliers.
TIA President Matthew J. Flanigan, remarked "The
benefits of China's eventual accession to the WTO will
be reaped by China as well as foreign investors. A
thriving telecommunications sector is key for any
country desiring to create a solid information-based
society. Today's agreement, the first step toward this
goal, has the promise of developing a more competitive
telecommunications environment in China, bringing lower
prices and a wider selection of telecommunications
products to the Chinese marketplace. With sales of
telecom infrastructure equipment in China rising rapidly
over the past decade, fair and transparent access to
China's marketplace is a welcome sign for U.S.
industry."
China represents a huge potential market for U.S.
telecommunications equipment suppliers, with purchases
by China in 1998 of telecom infrastructure amounting to
more than $21 billion. This figure is up from only $1.2
billion in 1990.
TIA looks forward to examining the details of the
agreement as soon as they are released. Anticipating a
comprehensive agreement for telecommunications equipment
suppliers, TIA stands ready to support the deal on
Capitol Hill on behalf of its member companies. U.S.
Congressional approval is required to grant Permanent
Normal Trade Relation (PNTR) status to China before U.S.
companies can enjoy the negotiated market access
provisions.
TIA hopes to see concrete progress from the agreement
in the following areas:
- an agreement to sign on to the Information
Technology Agreement (ITA), which would eliminate, by
a certain date, tariffs on IT products;
- the granting to foreign companies trading and
distribution rights in China;
- a commitment to make all government procurement
processes clear and transparent;
- an agreement to sign on to the WTO's Agreement on
Basic Telecommunications and its Reference Paper.
Signing on to the agreement would commit China to,
over a period of years, ensured interconnection to the
Chinese networks, competitive safeguards against
cross-subsidization, publicly available licensing
criteria, creation of an independent regulator, and
timely and transparent frequency allocation
procedures; and
- a commitment to enforcement of intellectual
property rights, transparency, national treatment and
competition.
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TIA is a full-service
national trade organization with membership of 1,000
large and small companies that provide communications
and information technology products, materials, systems,
distribution services and professional services in the
United States and around the world. The association's
member companies manufacture or supply virtually all of
the products used in global communication networks. TIA
represents the telecommunications industry with its
subsidiary, the MultiMedia Telecommunications
Association (MMTA),
in association with the Electronic Industries Alliance
(EIA).
P.A. Release 99-146/11.15.99
