WASHINGTON-The Bush administration today released a new report on how the United States can combat standards-related trade barriers, a hot-button issue that has caused friction between the United States and both China and North Korea in the wireless space.
“Standards and related technical regulations affect an estimated 80 percent of world trade. The recommendations in this report can improve how we tackle standards-related issues that distort trade and undermine our competitiveness,” said Commerce Secretary Donald Evans.
The new report, “Standards and Competitiveness-Coordinating for Results,” contains more than 50 recommendations. In March 2003, Evans launched the Department of Commerce Standards Initiative, an eight-point plan that sought to respond to industry concerns that divergent standards, redundant testing and compliance procedures, and regulatory red tape are becoming the greatest challenges to expanding exports.
