CCIA Welcomes House Passage of DR-CAFTA, but Wary of IP Provisions

File Under: 2005, International Trade

Jul 29, 2005

The U.S. House of Representatives voted last night to pass the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). As a long-time supporter of free trade, the Computer & Communications Industry Association applauds passage of DR-CAFTA and the reduction of trade barriers and expansion of market access for the U.S. technology sector that it will provide. CCIA believes that the agreement is an important sign of the U.S. commitment to free trade and will build momentum for an expansive and inclusive approach to trade going forward.

However, CCIA is concerned that DR-CAFTA is the latest example of what we see as a disturbing trend in bilateral trade agreements. CCIA believes that trade agreements should be focused on true trade issues, and should not emphasize domestic commercial regulatory issues. We have been increasingly wary of the inclusion of overly broad intellectual property protections in free trade agreements. The micromanagement of other nations’ domestic laws is unwise and is being used to create legal regimes more restrictive than U.S. domestic law.

CCIA represents large, medium and small companies in the high technology products and services sector, including computer hardware and software, electronic commerce, telecommunications and Internet products and services – companies with more than $250 billion in annual revenues.

There can be no doubt that efforts to stop intellectual property abuse are very important to our industry. However, some IP protection requirements in DR-CAFTA, such as those relating to circumvention of technological measures, are so detailed that they might inhibit the evolution of the law in the U.S. The merits of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act are still being debated domestically, and important legislation is pending in Congress to amend it. Necessary and productive debates and legislative flexibility would be preempted by the continued inclusion of such detailed provisions in trade agreements.

Since our founding over three decades ago, support for free and open markets has been a core principle of CCIA. We have consistently worked to promote expanded trade and market access for high-tech exports through abolition of trade barriers, and helped lead the effort for most major trade initiatives including NAFTA and the Doha Round. However, CCIA would be faced with a difficult choice if future free trade agreements continue to include counterproductive provisions in the name of free trade. “Trade agreements should be for facilitating the export of our products, not used as a back door vehicle for the export of an IP protection regime that remains domestically controversial”, CCIA President & CEO Ed Black said. “We call on the administration to avoid making future agreements a mutually exclusive choice between support for free trade and support for innovation.”