The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative should expand its use of the Generalized System of Preferences to encourage beneficiaries to make policy and enforcement changes, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a report released Monday. The agency's foreign trade barrier and intellectual property reports should more directly guide decisions "to self-initiate reviews of whether GSP beneficiaries are breaching the program’s trade, market access, or intellectual property criteria," the ITIF said. The USTR is already reviewing GSP benefits for Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Turkey over various issues. If the GSP reviews don't produce the intended changes, "USTR should partially or fully suspend or withdraw that country’s access to GSP benefits -- as this has clearly dragged on for far too long for many GSP beneficiaries," the ITIF said. The criteria for GSP "graduation," based on income and trade competitiveness, should be more strictly enforced, it said. That should start "with revoking Turkey’s access to the program," the ITIF said.

The FTC should require edge and core internet providers to offer uniform protections for online consumers, telecom trade groups told the agency Monday. Organizations from across the economy made policy suggestions by the Monday deadline for public comment on upcoming hearings on consumer protection and competition (see 1808200045).

The FTC should require edge and core internet providers to offer uniform protections for online consumers, telecom trade groups told the agency Monday. Organizations from across the economy made policy suggestions by the Monday deadline for public comment on upcoming hearings on consumer protection and competition (see 1808200045).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative should expand its use of the Generalized System of Preferences to encourage beneficiaries to make policy and enforcement changes, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation said in a report released Aug. 20. The agency's foreign trade barrier and intellectual property reports should more directly guide decisions "to self-initiate reviews of whether GSP beneficiaries are breaching the program’s trade, market access, or intellectual property criteria," the ITIF said. The USTR is already reviewing GSP benefits for Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan, Thailand and Turkey over various issues (see 1808150034).

Most U.S. manufacturers are stagnating in the initial stages of smart manufacturing technology adoption, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation reported Monday. Nearly 80 percent of small U.S. manufacturers “lack plans to implement Internet of Things applications over the next three years,” they said. U.S. manufacturers should leverage “smart, cyber-physical systems that combine model-based definitions, an end-to-end digital thread, modeling and simulation, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and seamless supply chain collaboration,” ITIF President Robert Atkinson and Vice President-Global Innovation Policy Stephen Ezell said with Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade Executive Director-Center for Global Industrial Strategies Inchul Kim and institute fellow Jaehan Cho.

Most U.S. manufacturers are stagnating in the initial stages of smart manufacturing technology adoption, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation reported Monday. Nearly 80 percent of small U.S. manufacturers “lack plans to implement Internet of Things applications over the next three years,” they said. U.S. manufacturers should leverage “smart, cyber-physical systems that combine model-based definitions, an end-to-end digital thread, modeling and simulation, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and seamless supply chain collaboration,” ITIF President Robert Atkinson and Vice President-Global Innovation Policy Stephen Ezell said with Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade Executive Director-Center for Global Industrial Strategies Inchul Kim and institute fellow Jaehan Cho.

Most U.S. manufacturers are stagnating in the initial stages of smart manufacturing technology adoption, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation reported Monday. Nearly 80 percent of small U.S. manufacturers “lack plans to implement Internet of Things applications over the next three years,” they said. U.S. manufacturers should leverage “smart, cyber-physical systems that combine model-based definitions, an end-to-end digital thread, modeling and simulation, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and seamless supply chain collaboration,” ITIF President Robert Atkinson and Vice President-Global Innovation Policy Stephen Ezell said with Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade Executive Director-Center for Global Industrial Strategies Inchul Kim and institute fellow Jaehan Cho.

Tech interests virtually struck out in their attempts to persuade U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to spare their products and components from a second tranche of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on imports from China. Despite heavy industry lobbying to exclude semiconductors and other key parts from the second round of new levies, the list Lighthizer released Tuesday contains 279 tariff lines of goods worth about $16 billion in trade value, a mere 2 percent reduction from 284 lines in the originally proposed list released June 15 (see 1806150030). The new tariffs will take effect Aug. 23, said Lighthizer, who soon will announce a "process" for seeking exclusions from the new duties.

Tech interests virtually struck out in their attempts to persuade U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to spare their products and components from a second tranche of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on imports from China. Despite heavy industry lobbying to exclude semiconductors and other key parts from the second round of new levies, the list Lighthizer released Tuesday contains 279 tariff lines of goods worth about $16 billion in trade value, a mere 2 percent reduction from 284 lines in the originally proposed list released June 15 (see 1806150030). The new tariffs will take effect Aug. 23, said Lighthizer, who soon will announce a "process" for seeking exclusions from the new duties.

Tech interests virtually struck out in their attempts to persuade U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to spare their products and components from a second tranche of 25 percent Trade Act Section 301 tariffs on imports from China. Despite heavy industry lobbying to exclude semiconductors and other key parts from the second round of new levies, the list Lighthizer released Tuesday contains 279 tariff lines of goods worth about $16 billion in trade value, a mere 2 percent reduction from 284 lines in the originally proposed list released June 15 (see 1806150030). The new tariffs will take effect Aug. 23, said Lighthizer, who soon will announce a "process" for seeking exclusions from the new duties.