19 U.S.C. § 3102 — Definitions

Page 828 TITLE 19—CUSTOMS DUTIES § 3101 Sec. 3106. Review of trade agreement implementation by Trade Representative. 3107. Compensation authority. 3108. Consultations. 3109. Submission of data; action to ensure compli- ance. 3110. Study on telecommunications competitive- ness in United States. 3111. International obligations. § 3101. Findings and purposes (a) Findings The Congress finds that— (1) rapid growth in the world market for telecommunications products and services is likely to continue for several decades; (2) the United States can improve prospects for— (A) the growth of— (i) United States exports of tele- communications products and services, and (ii) export-related employment and con- sumer services in the United States, and (B) the continuance of the technological leadership of the United States, by undertaking a program to achieve an open world market for trade in telecommunications products, services, and investment; (3) most foreign markets for telecommuni- cations products, services, and investment are characterized by extensive government inter- vention (including restrictive import practices and discriminatory procurement practices) which adversely affect United States exports of telecommunications products and services and United States investment in tele- communications; (4) the open nature of the United States tele- communications market, accruing from the liberalization and restructuring of such mar- ket, has contributed, and will continue to con- tribute, to an increase in imports of tele- communications products and a growing im- balance in competitive opportunities for trade in telecommunications; (5) unless this imbalance is corrected through the achievement of mutually advan- tageous market opportunities for trade in telecommunications products and services be- tween the United States and foreign countries, the United States should avoid granting con- tinued open access to the telecommunications products and services of such foreign countries in the United States market; and (6) the unique business conditions in the worldwide market for telecommunications products and services caused by the combina- tion of deregulation and divestiture in the United States, which represents a unilateral liberalization of United States trade with the rest of the world, and continuing government intervention in the domestic industries of many other countries create a need to make an exception in the case of telecommuni- cations products and services that should not necessarily be a precedent for legislating spe- cific sectoral priorities in combating the closed markets or unfair foreign trade prac- tices of other countries. (b) Purposes The purposes of this chapter are— (1) to foster the economic and technological growth of, and employment in, the United States telecommunications industry; (2) to secure a high quality telecommuni- cations network for the benefit of the people of the United States; (3) to develop an international consensus in favor of open trade and competition in tele- communications products and services; (4) to ensure that countries which have made commitments to open telecommunications trade fully abide by those commitments; and (5) to achieve a more open world trading sys- tem for telecommunications products and services through negotiation and provision of mutually advantageous market opportunities for United States telecommunications export- ers and their subsidiaries in those markets in which barriers exist to free international trade. (Pub. L. 100–418, title I, § 1372, Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1216.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 100–418, title I, § 1371, Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1216, provided that: ‘‘This part [part 4 (§§ 1371–1382) of subtitle C of title I of Pub. L. 100–418, enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Telecommunications Trade Act of 1988’.’’ § 3102. Definitions For purposes of this chapter— (1) The term ‘‘Trade Representative’’ means the United States Trade Representative. (2) The term ‘‘telecommunications product’’ means— (A) any paging devices provided for under item 685.65 of such Schedules, and (B) any article classified under any of the following item numbers of such Schedules: 684.57 684.67 685.28 685.39 684.58 684.80 685.30 685.48 684.59 685.16 685.31 688.17 684.65 685.24 685.33 688.41 684.66 685.25 685.34 707.90. (Pub. L. 100–418, title I, § 1373, Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1217.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Such Schedules, referred to in par. (2), to be treated as a reference to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, pur- suant to section 3012 of this title. The Harmonized Tar- iff Schedule is not set out in the Code. See Publication of Harmonized Tariff Schedule note set out under sec- tion 1202 of this title. § 3103. Investigation of foreign telecommuni- cations trade barriers (a) In general The Trade Representative shall conduct an in- vestigation to identify priority foreign coun- tries. Such investigation shall be concluded by no later than the date that is 5 months after Au- gust 23, 1988.