Standards are a significant trade issue ‘not dealt with by the WT...

Standards are a significant trade issue “not dealt with by the WTO [World Trade Organization],” Commerce Dept. Asst. Secy.-Technology Bruce Mehlman said Thurs. In a far-looking presentation, “Future Policy Challenges for American Innovation,” Mehlman told the Computer & Communications Industry Assn. (CCIA) of an example of competition involving standards. He said earlier this year he spoke with U.S. manufacturers of HDTV components, who argued that Brazil was being dissuaded from adopting the U.S. HDTV standard in favor of a yet-to-be-finalized Japanese standard as European companies sought to block U.S. entry into Brazil. (The Commerce Dept.’s Technology Administration launched a standards initiative earlier this year.) Acknowledging the recent collapse of WTO talks in Cancun, Mehlman observed what others in the Administration had said: “We may be going to a phase that’s more bilateral than multilateral for a while.”