§3104 — Title 19 Customs Duties | U.S. Code

Summary

When a country is named a "priority foreign country" — either 30 days after it is identified under section 3103(a) or when it is identified under section 3103(c)(1)(B) — the President must set specific negotiating goals for that country to meet the United States’ overall aims. The President can change those goals during talks if things change, such as new practices by the country, important developments in multilateral talks, shifts in competition or technology, or other relevant factors. If the President changes the goals, a statement explaining the changes and the reasons must go to the appropriate congressional committees within 30 days. The United States has three general aims: get bilateral or multilateral deals that give fair market chances for U.S. telecom goods and services, correct market imbalances from foreign firms getting access to the U.S. market, and raise U.S. telecom exports to match U.S. competitiveness. Specific goals include national treatment and most-favored-nation treatment for U.S. telecom products and services; fair government procurement and including telecom under the Agreement on Government Procurement; cutting customs duties; ending subsidies, intellectual property violations, and other unfair practices; removing investment barriers; clear rules for registering customer-premises equipment and recognizing type approvals; open standards-setting; reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to foreign basic networks (including prices) for U.S. value-added service providers; fair procurement by government-controlled local exchange providers; and monitoring plus effective dispute settlement to enforce these goals.

Title 19, §3104

Customs Duties — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Upon—

(1)the date that is 30 days after the date on which any foreign country is identified in the investigation conducted under section 3103(a) of this title as a priority foreign country, and

(2)the date on which any foreign country is identified under section 3103(c)(1)(B) of this title as a priority foreign country,

(b)(1)The President shall establish such relevant specific negotiating objectives on a country-by-country basis as are necessary to meet the general negotiating objectives of the United States under this section.

(2)(A)The President may refine or modify specific negotiating objectives for particular negotiations in order to respond to circumstances arising during the negotiating period, including—

(i)changed practices by the priority foreign country,

(ii)tangible substantive developments in multilateral negotiations,

(iii)changes in competitive positions, technological developments, or

(iv)other relevant factors.

(B)By no later than the date that is 30 days after the date on which the President makes any modifications or refinements to specific negotiating objectives under subparagraph (A), the President shall submit to appropriate committees of the Congress a statement describing such modifications or refinements and the reasons for such modifications or refinements.

(c)The general negotiating objectives of the United States under this section are—

(1)to obtain multilateral or bilateral agreements (or the modification of existing agreements) that provide mutually advantageous market opportunities for trade in telecommunications products and services between the United States and foreign countries;

(2)to correct the imbalances in market opportunities accruing from reductions in barriers to the access of telecommunications products and services of foreign firms to the United States market; and

(3)to facilitate the increase in United States exports of telecommunications products and services to a level of exports that reflects the competitiveness of the United States telecommunications industry.

(d)The specific negotiating objectives of the United States under this section regarding telecommunications products and services are to obtain—

(1)national treatment for telecommunications products and services that are provided by United States firms;

(2)most-favored-nation treatment for such products and services;

(3)nondiscriminatory procurement policies with respect to such products and services and the inclusion under the Agreement on Government Procurement of the procurement (by sale or lease by government-owned or controlled entities) of all telecommunications products and services;

(4)the reduction or elimination of customs duties on telecommunications products;

(5)the elimination of subsidies, violations of intellectual property rights, and other unfair trade practices that distort international trade in telecommunications products and services;

(6)the elimination of investment barriers that restrict the establishment of foreign-owned business entities which market such products and services;

(7)assurances that any requirement for the registration of telecommunications products, which are to be located on customer premises, for the purposes of—

(A)attachment to a telecommunications network in a foreign country, and

(B)the marketing of the products in a foreign country,

(8)transparency of, and open participation in, the standards-setting processes used in foreign countries with respect to telecommunications products;

(9)the ability to have telecommunications products, which are to be located on customer premises, approved and registered by type, and, if appropriate, the establishment of procedures between the United States and foreign countries for the mutual recognition of type approvals;

(10)access to the basic telecommunications network in foreign countries on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms and conditions (including nondiscriminatory prices) for the provision of value-added services by United States suppliers;

(11)the nondiscriminatory procurement of telecommunications products and services by foreign entities that provide local exchange telecommunications services which are owned, controlled, or, if appropriate, regulated by foreign governments; and

(12)monitoring and effective dispute settlement mechanisms to facilitate compliance with matters referred to in the preceding paragraphs of this subsection.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Chapter 17 of this title, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the original “part 1 of subtitle A”, meaning part 1 (§§ 1101–1117) of subtitle A of title I of Pub. L. 100–418, Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1121, which enacted chapter 17 (§ 2901 et seq.) of this title and amended section 2131, 2133, and 2191 of this title. For complete classification of part 1 to the Code, see Tables.

Executive Documents

Delegation of Functions Functions of President under this section relating to certain telecommunications negotiations delegated to United States Trade Representative, see section 1–401 of Ex. Ord. No. 12661, Dec. 27, 1988, 54 F.R. 779, set out as a note under section 2901 of this title.

§3104 Negotiations in Response to Investigation