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International Update
Quarterly Report Highlighting AeA Activities
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November 2007
Tim Reif, Staff Director for Ways
and Means Trade Subcommittee, Outlines Congressional Plans on Trade Issues
On September 28, 2007, the Staff Director for the House Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Trade, Tim Reif, sat down with the AeA International Policy Advisory
Committee (IPAC) to discuss the expected action by Congress on trade
during the remainder of 2007 and beginning of 2008. He expected a Trade Adjustment
Assistance bill to be introduced shortly that would be taken up by the
House before moving to consideration of the
Peru FTA. He had
concerns about the prospects for approval of the Colombia and Korea FTAs.
On China, he anticipated some tough legislation from the Committee in the
two weeks following our meeting. Looking beyond the immediate focus on the FTAs,
Tim wants to look at the challenges of globalization and how we can find
productive resolutions that will rebuild support for trade agreements.
He invited members to contact him with any suggestions. Minutes from
the meeting are available on the
AeA website. 
For more information contact Rob Mulligan,
Senior Vice President International, at 202.682.4452.
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Tiffany Moore, Assistant USTR
Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison, Briefs AeA International
Committee on Trade Agenda
On July 20, 2007, the AeA International Policy Advisory Committee (IPAC)
heard from Tiffany Moore, Assistant USTR, on the administration’s efforts
to move forward with Congress on getting approval of the
Peru,
Colombia,
Panama, and
Korea Free Trade Agreements. She cited the compromises
made on labor and environment issues as evidence of the effort made by USTR to advance action on trade. She felt that the votes on Peru and
Panama will be a litmus test of the effectiveness of the May 10 agreement
between the administration and Congress on trade. Korea will require a
huge effort from USTR and the business community to educate members of Congress on the benefits of the FTA. In
this regard, she complimented the AeA papers highlighting the benefits of
the FTAs for the high tech industry as the type of materials that will be
needed to build support in Congress. She also urged action out in the
Congressional districts by AeA member companies to impress upon members
the importance of getting the FTAs approved. Minutes from the
meeting are available on the
AeA website.
For more information contact Rob Mulligan,
Senior Vice President International, at 202.682.4452.
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AeA Customs and Export Controls
Committees Hear from USTR and BIS at Quarterly Meeting Hosted by Symantec
Anne Marie Griffin, Microsoft Corporation and west coast chair of the AeA
Customs Committee, facilitated the quarterly meeting on September 19,
2007. Jason Bernstein, Director of Tariff Affairs, USTR updated the
meeting participants on the US effort to investigate products being
excluded from WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) duty free
coverage. AeA member products affected include set-top boxes, LCD
displays, multi-function units, network analyzers and ink-jet printer
cartridges. Elonye Wilkins, Import Specialist, and Allison Acosta,
Import Specialist, U.S. Customs and Border Protection gave a presentation on
“Avoiding Classification Issues for High Technology Products.”
Attendees also received updates from the WTO, WCO, Trade Agreements and
Best Practices subcommittee working groups. Minutes from the
quarterly meeting
are available
on the AeA website.
Rita Spencer-Rout, Cymer Incorporated and
west coast chair, led the proceedings of the
AeA Export Controls Committee
meeting. Randy Pratt, Director, Information Technology Controls
Division, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), provided attendees with
an update on the progress to reform the encryption regulations. AeA
submitted a comprehensive paper to BIS on August 1, 2007 which includes 17
specific priority recommendations for streamlining encryption controls.
The AeA paper can be accessed
on the AeA
website.
Subcommittee chairpersons gave updates on technology transfer,
legislation, high performance computers, regulations and procedures, and
encryption issues. Minutes from the quarterly meeting of the
committee are available on the
AeA website. Symantec
Corporation hosted both committee meetings at their corporate headquarters
in Cupertino, CA.
For more information contact Ken
Montgomery, Director, International Trade Regulation, at 202.682.4433.
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AeA Presents Deemed
Export Recommendations to Deemed Export Advisory Committee (DEAC)
On Monday, September 10, 2007, Julie La Cross, National Semiconductor
Corporation and east coast chair of the
AeA Export Controls Committee
presented on behalf of AeA at the final public session of the DEAC in
Washington, DC. The AeA presentation discussed several issues high
technology companies face including the fact that the pool of
technical staff with graduate degrees is increasingly composed of non-U.S. nationals. And U.S.
companies must have access to the best and brightest talent in order to
compete on a global basis. AeA recommendations included, among
others, developing more efficient and streamlined government background
screening of individuals via the visa application process, and a license
exception for intra-company technology transfers to all employees.
It was announced at the public session that the DEAC is tentatively
scheduled to submit its recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce
during the October/November 2007 timeframe. The AeA presentation can
be accessed on
the AeA website.
For more information contact Ken
Montgomery, Director, International Trade Regulation, at 202.682.4433.
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AeA International
Environment Committee Reviews Regulatory Developments in Europe, China,
Korea, Argentina and Explores New Work on Chinese Energy Efficiency
Initiatives
On Tuesday, October 9, 2007, over 30 member company representatives
participated in an all day meeting of the AeA International Environment
Committee in Santa Clara, CA. Participating members heard from
several speakers who provided updates on a broad range of issues,
including the European Energy Using Products (EuP) framework directive,
REACH, RoHS and WEEE directives, updates on Korea RoHS, the Argentine
Battery Law, China RoHS, Chinese Energy Efficiency initiatives and updates
on various US state regulations. In addition to several AeA staff
members, participating speakers included Tad Ferris, Partner at Holland &
Knight, LLP, Steve Andrews from the UK Department for Business, Enterprise
& Regulatory Reform, DaeYoung PARK, Secretary General at the Korean
Environment Council in Europe, Felise Cooper from Allen & Overy, LLP and
Angeles Murgier from the Argentine law firm of Brons & Salas, LLP.
The meeting agenda, speaker presentations and supporting documents are
available on the
AeA website.
For more information contact Michaela Muranova
Chen, Director of International Environment and Trade Policy, at
202.682.4445.
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AeA India Work Group
Discusses Government Procurement Concerns with Jean Grier, USTR
The AeA India Work Group agreed to take several actions to address member
concerns with government procurement practices in India. First, the
work group
developed a short paper outlining the issues and recommendations which it
sought to get included in briefing materials for the U.S. – India CEO Forum
meeting on September 24, 2007. Second, the group met with Jean Grier, USTR,
on September 16, 2007 to share our concerns and to discuss how best to
pursue them with the Indian government. Jean agreed to raise the
issues with Ambassador Schwab in preparation for her meetings with the
high level Indian government delegation coming for the Economic Dialogue.
We also discussed other steps and research that might be useful in
persuading India to join the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.
The issue paper developed by the work group is available to members on the
AeA website.
For more information contact Rob Mulligan,
Senior Vice President International, at 202.682.4452.
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AeA Co-Chairs July U.S.-India ICT Dialogue IT Subgroup Meeting
On July 12, 2007, AeA participated in the U.S.-India ICT Dialogue which is
an initiative organized under the umbrella of the U.S.-India Economic
Dialogue by the U.S. Department of State. AeA co-chaired the
Information Technology Subgroup, which was one of the three industry
subgroups meeting that day to discuss issues related to the bilateral
relationship between the two countries. Over 120 representatives
from U.S. and Indian industry and government attended this meeting, which
continued on the following day to address the recommendations concluded by
the industry. Participating government agencies included U.S.
Department of State, U.S. Department of Commerce, USTR, FCC and Indian
Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Indian Ministry of
Media and Broadcasting and others.
Issues raised by the U.S. industry under the
IT subgroup dialogue included issues related to the excessive CVDs and
excise duties on packaged software, Software Technology Parks benefits,
cybersecurity cooperation, amendments to the Indian IT Law Act and
education verification for employees in India. Indian industry
mentioned issue areas related to the research collaboration, immigration
issues related to work visas and consideration of a totalization
agreement. The recommendations submitted to the government
representatives at the July 12 meeting
are available on
the AeA website.
For more information contact Michaela Muranova
Chen, Director of International Environment and Trade Policy, at
202.682.4445.
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AeA Efforts Help Build Support for
285-132 House Vote Approving Peru FTA
With trade being one of AeA’s top policy priorities in 2007, our
international department met with more than 25 Congressional offices over
the last few months to express our support for passing the FTAs with
Peru,
Colombia,
Panama, and
Korea. These efforts paid off on November 8, 2007, when the
House approved the Peru FTA by a vote of 285-132. With 109 Democrats
supporting the bill, it was clear that the work by Chairman Rangel to
rebuild bipartisan support for trade has been effective. In addition
to the one-on-one meetings, Rob Mulligan, AeA Senior Vice President
International, has also participated as a speaker on panels before the
House and Senate staff outlining the benefits of these agreements for the
high-tech industry. In addition, AeA has been actively involved in
Latin America and Korea FTA coalitions supporting the passage of the
agreements through hill meetings and signing on to the coalition letters.
AeA’s research papers on high-tech trade with the FTA countries have been
widely circulated in support of industry lobbying efforts.
For more information contact Rob Mulligan,
Senior Vice President International at 202.682.4452, Michaela Muranova
Chen, Director of International Environment and Trade Policy at
202.682.4445.
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AeA Europe Releases Report on
High-Tech Contributions to Energy Efficiency
 A
landmark study released on 17 September 2007 by AeA Europe calls for
urgent action, if ICT and advanced technologies are to reach their full
potential in helping meet the EU’s 2020 climate change targets. The
report – ‘Advanced
Electronics and Information Technologies: The Innovation-Led Climate
Change Solution’ – was produced by the American
Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), an independent, nonprofit
organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency, alongside AeA
Europe, and with input from many leading high-tech companies.
Covering all relevant sectors, the study
looks at the overall impact of information and communications technologies
(ICT) and advanced electronic devices on energy consumption, and how the
high-tech sector can help achieve the EU goal of reducing energy
consumption by 20% by 2020. Policymakers, researchers and members of
the high-tech industry met to discuss the report’s findings at a
high-level event in Brussels, on 17 September.
For more information contact James Lovegrove, Managing Director of AeA Europe, at 011-32-2-502-7015.
Ambassador Pedro Nuno Bártolo, Deputy Permanent
Representative, Portugal, EU Presidency
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AeA Customs Committee and
Printer Coalition Continue Push for WTO ITA Maintenance
The WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) has 70 country participants
and accounts for about 97% of world trade in information technology
products. The agreement which was concluded in 1996 calls for
participants to completely eliminate duties on IT products covered by the
Agreement. Due to technological development and convergence, and the
fact that a formal review process has not been implemented by the WTO ITA
Committee, some countries and governing bodies such as the EC are starting
to exclude products from duty free coverage. Products currently
affected include set-top boxes, LCD displays, multi-function units,
network analyzers and ink-jet printer cartridges. AeA and the
Printer Coalition have met with USTR on 5 occasions and provided product
specifications and background information in order for the US government
officials to evaluate the tariff treatment for the goods in question.
AeA members have also met with country embassy officials and reached out
to technology associations in other countries in order to heighten the
awareness of the issue and advocate for continued duty free treatment for
ITA products.
For more information contact Ken
Montgomery, Director, International Trade Regulation, at 202.682.4433.
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AeA Global Trade Compliance Best
Practices Conference at Google Headquarters is a Sell Out
100+ attend AeA's
first-ever Global Trade Compliance: Best Practices Conference at Google
On Tuesday, September 18, 2007, AeA hosted the first annual
Best Practices in Global Trade Compliance Conference in Mountain View, CA. The
event was sponsored by
Google and
Export Strategies LLC. Over 100
global trade compliance professionals from across the U.S. attended the
event which sold out in the second week of August and featured panels on
Customs, Export and China trade compliance.
Government speakers included officials from
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Bureau of Industry and
Security, U.S. Department of Commerce. Industry speakers represented
AMD,
Applied Materials, Cymer, Hewlett-Packard Company, Hitachi Data Systems
Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Plantronics Incorporated, and QUALCOMM
Incorporated. Attendees also heard information on the legal aspects of
global trade compliance from Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe. The
government and industry speakers offered attendees guidance and
experiences and resulting “best practices” in a format enabling the
attendees to easily integrate or implement into their own company policies
and procedures.
Panel topics included Customs
classification, rules of origin, C-TPAT, ACE, encryption, deemed exports,
the China export regulation and VEU program, and compliance practices and
training for Chinese subsidiaries. A question and answer session was
provided at the end of each panel in order for attendees to ask specific
questions on topics of interest to their company. A detailed program
agenda with all topics and speakers are
available on the AeA website.
For more information contact Ken
Montgomery, Director, International Trade Regulation, at 202.682.4433.
Export Controls Panel |
Event Speakers |
Customs Panel |
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AeA Organizes Global Trade
Compliance Conference in Austin, TX
Over 60 global trade compliance professionals from Austin and Dallas, TX
and other high tech regions of the U.S. attended AeA’s best practices
conference hosted by Freescale Semiconductor on October 18, 2007.
Ken Montgomery, AeA’s Director of International Trade Regulation moderated
the program which included panels covering trade management systems,
customs compliance, export compliance and China trade compliance.
Speakers included industry leaders from Texas Instruments, Alston & Bird,
Hewlett-Packard, Freescale Semiconductor, Braumiller, Schulz & Company,
Dell, National Semiconductor Corporation, Rockwell Automation, and Ernst &
Young.
Best practices in global trade compliance
were presented and discussed including using technology to manage
compliance programs, valuation, assists, and transfer pricing,
classification, managing rules of origin, voluntary disclosures, deemed
exports, the BIS China regulation and VEU program, training for Chinese
subsidiaries and facilitating customs and export clearance in China.
Three question and answer sessions were moderated where attendees were
able to ask topic and company specific compliance questions. The
complete program agenda can be viewed on the
AeA website.
For more information contact Ken
Montgomery, Director, International Trade Regulation, at 202.682.4433.
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AeA Program Compares
and Contrasts U.S. and China Approaches to Innovation and Competitiveness
Policies
On August 2, 2007, AeA hosted a program in the David Packard Conference
Center for over 50 participants from industry and government that analyzed
the policy approaches taken by the U.S. and China towards promoting
innovation and competitiveness. William T. Archey, AeA President and
CEO, kicked off the program with a discussion of AeA’s efforts over the
last three years to alert U.S. policymakers to the need for policy changes
in the areas of math and science education, research, and highly-skilled
foreign workers if the U.S. wants to maintain its global competitive
leadership. Greg Shea, President and Managing Director of the
U.S. Information Technology Office in
Beijing (USITO), expanded on the Chinese
policy approach which includes a 15-year plan to have over 2.5 percent of
GDP invested in R&D, reliance on foreign technology below 30 percent, and
to be among the top five countries with worldwide patents.
The second panel of the program included
presentations by Rich Brecher, Director Global Advocacy for Motorola, Greg
Slater, Director Trade Policy for Intel, Chris Moore, Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Trade Policy and Programs at the U.S. Department of State and
Richard Johnson, Senior Partner at the law firm of Arnold and Porter.
The industry representatives agreed that in essence they would like to see
the U.S. government do more to support innovation and competitiveness of
U.S. companies while the Chinese government should do less regulating that
negatively impacts foreign companies.
For more information contact Rob Mulligan,
Senior Vice President, International at 202.682.4452.
William T. Archey, President & CEO, AeA |
Greg Shea, President & Managing
Director, USITO |
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AeA China RoHS Steering
Committee Continues Advocacy Efforts as the Regulators Prepare to Move
Forward on Catalogue
In preparation for the second phase of the
China RoHS regulation, the
restriction of hazardous substances and certification process, the AeA
China RoHS Steering Committee has developed its 2008 advocacy strategies
as we enter our fifth year of activities. In the last few months,
AeA's China RoHS Steering Committee members worked tirelessly to prepare
for the upcoming catalogue by developing catalogue options documents which
would be used for advocacy efforts with the Ministry of Information
Industry (MII) officials in September to discuss the agency's next steps
and priorities. Building on our strong relationship with MII, AeA member
companies will continue meeting with the MII officials on a regular basis to
emphasize the importance of developing a Catalogue covering a limited
number of products. Per MII’s request, AeA continues to develop
additional
documents and position papers which would assist the Ministry in their
decision. Catalogue and Certification related issues will remain our
group’s main focus in 2008, as we expect to see the first batch of the
catalogue to be issued sometime in the middle of the year. The group
will also to continue monitoring market surveillance and enforcement, as
well as the Standards Work Group activities related to the updates of the
current standards and supporting documents.
For more information contact Michaela Muranova
Chen, Director of International Environment and Trade Policy, at
202.682.4445.
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AeA Co-Chairs International
Approach to Material Restrictions Workgroup and Leads Drafting of Position
Paper
Building on AeA’s expertise and leadership on EU RoHS and
China RoHS and
our members’ interest in global harmonization of RoHS-type regulations,
AeA created a workgroup dedicated to ensuring that the new material
restriction regulations in other countries are consistent with the
regulations already in place. The International Approach to Material
Restriction workgroup has been working with its members on creating an
industry position paper, which would be used for advocating our interests
to the foreign regulators planning to introduce a RoHS-like regulation.
The workgroup activities are dedicated to promoting our industry’s message
that there is no need for countries to adopt regulations restricting
hazardous substances as most of our companies have already eliminated or
diminished the presence of such substances in their products. To
assist countries considering such regulations, we proposed a set of common
principles, recommendations and alignment elements, which should be
considered before enactment of any RoHS-type regulation.
For more information contact Michaela Muranova
Chen, Director of International Environment and Trade Policy, at
202.682.4445.
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AeA Releases Trade in
Cyberstates Report Providing State-by-State Data on High-Tech Exports
 On
July 17, 2007, AeA issued its first edition of
Trade in the Cyberstates that
looks at high-tech trade flows at the national level and for all 50
states. This report is a partner publication to AeA’s annual
flagship publication,
Cyberstates, which looks at high-tech employment,
wages, and other factors at the national and state levels. The trade
report found that U.S. high-tech goods exports increased by 9 percent from
$295 billion to $322 billion between 2005 and 2006. This was the fourth
consecutive year of growing high-tech exports which account for 21 percent
of all U.S. goods exports.
California remains the leading high-tech
export state with $51.8 billion in exports in 2006, followed by
Texas,
Florida,
Massachusetts, and
New
York.
For more information contact Matthew Kazmierczak, Vice President, Research and Industry Analysis, at
202.682.4438.
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Upcoming Events:
- November 16, 2007, Washington, DC:
AeA International Policy Advisory Committee Meeting – Host: AeA
- AeA Interest: Regular meeting of
Committee members to review international policy and program activities
of AeA and provide input on policy positions. Chris Hansen, new AeA CEO,
will speak to the Committee on his international background and hear
from companies on their key issues.
- November 28, 2007, Webinar: US
Export Controls: Recent Trends and Best Practices – Host: AeA New
England Council
- AeA Interest: If you export you need to
be fully aware of and compliant with US export regulations. This timely webinar will equip you with the information you need to avoid potential
damages to your company's reputation and finances. We will review how
you can make sure your operating procedures and internal controls are
set up properly so you can avoid any violations.
- December 5, 2007, Washington, DC:
Q4 AeA Export Controls Committee Meeting – Host: AeA
- AeA Interest: Regular quarterly
gathering of Committee members to develop AeA positions on export
control issues, meet and hear from key government officials, and
exchange views on industry concerns.
- December 6, 2007, Washington, DC:
Q4 AeA Customs Committee Meeting – Host: AeA
- AeA Interest: Regular quarterly
gathering of Committee members to develop AeA positions on Customs
issues, meet and hear from key government officials, and discuss best
practices in trade compliance.
- December 13, 2007, Webinar:
Foreign Nationals and Deemed Exports Update – Host: AeA New England
- AeA Interest: "Deemed exports" are an
often-overlooked aspect of complying with U.S. export controls. Under
the deemed export rule -- which exists under both the Export
Administration Regulations and the International Traffic in Arms
Regulations -- the release of technical data to a foreign person (both
natural persons and non-U.S. entities) within the U.S. is "deemed" to be
an export to the home country of the recipient. This timely webinar will
equip you with the information you need to identify deemed export
situations and establish operating procedures and internal controls that
help avoid violations.
- March 12, 2008, Washington, DC:
Q1 AeA Export Controls Committee Meeting – Host: AeA
- AeA Interest: Regular quarterly
gathering of Committee members to develop AeA positions on export
control issues, meet and hear from key government officials, and
exchange views on industry concerns.
- March 13, 2008, Washington, DC:
Q1 AeA Customs Committee Meeting – Host: AeA
- AeA Interest: Regular quarterly
gathering of Committee members to develop AeA positions on Customs
issues, meet and hear from key government officials, and discuss best
practices in trade compliance.
- March 20, 2008, Shanghai, China:
4th Annual China Trade Compliance Conference - Hosts: AeA & SEMI
- AeA Interest: AeA company
subsidiaries, affiliates, customers and suppliers in China. The
conference will include a government panels with officials from MOFCOM,
U.S. DOC, and China Customs. Industry panel will include experts from
high technology companies located in China. Speakers will discuss best
practices for complying with government regulations.
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This page was last updated on
11/12/07.
Copyright © 2007 American Electronics Association. All rights reserved.
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