Fergie's Tech Blog

Congress seeks to head off U.S.-China 'standards wars'

George Leopold writes in EE Times:

Congress has jumped into the fray over whether technology standards are being used to erect trade barriers designed to protect emerging Asian industries.

Exhibit A: During a hearing this week (May 11) was China's attempt last year to establish a wireless standard known as the Wireless Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure. The WAPI security scheme would have required U.S. companies to manufacture two sets of chips, one for the Chinese market and another for the rest of the world.

China ultimately backed down under U.S. pressure, but one lawmaker predicted that "China will continue to attempt to use standards to favor Chinese manufacturers."

posted by Fergie @ 5/12/2005 11:26:00 AM