ITAA Presses China on IT Free Trade

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) voiced its strong opposition this week to reported policy changes in China that would restrict government procurement of software to local Chinese companies.

In a letter to Jin Xiaoming, Minister-Counselor of the Chinese Embassy, the Washington, D.C.-based ITAA requested confirmation of the reported policy change. ITAA Harris Miller said in the letter that such a move would be considered a protectionist effort harming trade, and that the policy is likely to become a major justification for closing markets and introducing more nationalistic trends in the information technology industry.

“The message that will be received by our lawmakers in Washington, D.C., and in state capitols around the U.S. is that other countries are closing their markets while ours remains open and accessible,” Miller wrote. “ITAA has actively fought against protectionist policies in our own state capitols and in Washington, and to see such a policy imposed by our partners in China would only result in harm to industry and government in China and the U.S.”

In a separate letter to Secretary General Chunlu Liu of the Chinese Information Industry Trade Association (CIITA) in Beijing, ITAA asked its counterpart association to become engaged with the government and oppose the efforts to impose such a policy.