94-4612. Notice of USTR Determination of Violation of Trade Agreement

[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-4612]


[Federal Register: February 28, 1994]


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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Notice of USTR Determination of Violation of Trade Agreement

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.

ACTION: Affirmative Determination under section 1377 of the Omnibus 
Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 of a Violation of a Trade 
Agreement by Japan.

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SUMMARY: Section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 
1988 (19 U.S.C. 3106) requires the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to 
review annually the operation and effectiveness of each 
telecommunications trade agreement in force between the United States 
and another country or countries, and to determine whether any act, 
policy, or practice of the foreign country that entered into the 
agreement (1) is not in compliance with the terms of the agreement, or 
(2) otherwise denies, within the context of the agreement, mutually 
advantageous market opportunities to U.S. telecommunications products 
and services.
    Pursuant to section 1377, USTR has determined that certain 
practices of Japan with respect to cellular telephone products and 
services are not in compliance with Japan's commitments under a June 
28, 1989 agreement on third party radio and cellular telecommunications 
equipment. Section 1377 requires this affirmative determination to be 
treated as an affirmative determination under section 304(a)(1)(A) of 
the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2414(a)(1)(A)). 
Accordingly, USTR will request the section 301 Committee to recommend 
what action, if any, should be taken under section 301 (19 U.S.C. 
2411). USTR will publish notice of any proposed action and will provide 
an opportunity for interested persons to present views.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning this affirmative 
determination should be directed to David Long, Office of Industry 
Affairs, [phone], or Laura B. Sherman, Office of the General 
Counsel, [phone], Office of the United States Trade 
Representative, 600 Seventh Street, NW., Washington, DC 20506.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This determination is the second affirmative 
determination under section 1377 on this issue. In the first 
determination, made on April 28, 1989 (54 FR 19624), USTR found that, 
for the reasons cited below, Japan was not in compliance with 
agreements on third party radio and cellular telecommunications 
equipment encompassed in a series of letters and joint communications 
between the United States and Japan pursuant to the ``MOSS'' (Market-
Oriented Sector-Selective) discussions that took place between 1985 and 
1987.
    Specifically, USTR found that the Japanese Ministry of Posts and 
Telecommunications (MPT) had declined to license the operation in the 
Tokyo and Nagoya area of a cellular telephone system based on U.S. 
technology. This system was licensed in the rest of Japan, but 
subscribers to the system could not use their cellular telephones in 
the Tokyo-Nagoya area, i.e. they could not ``roam'' into Tokyo-Nagoya. 
Users of competing Japanese-technology cellular systems could ``roam'' 
throughout the country. USTR determined that the failure to approve 
operation of a U.S. technology-based system in the Tokyo-Nagoya area 
was inconsistent with the MOSS agreements, in which the Government of 
Japan committed to take measures with respect to roaming in Tokyo-
Nagoya by users of the U.S. technology-based system.
    Following that determination, consultations led to the June 28, 
1989 third party radio and cellular agreement that is the subject of 
this determination. In the 1989 agreement, the Government of Japan 
committed to measures to enable users of the U.S. technology-based 
system to roam in the Tokyo-Nagoya region. In the agreement, Japan 
reaffirmed its commitment to the principle of ``comparable market 
access.''
    In its review of the 1989 agreement, USTR found the following. To 
install the U.S. technology-based system in the Tokyo-Nagoya region, 
MPT selected, notwithstanding concerns expressed by USTR and U.S. 
industry, a company that operates a competing system in the Tokyo-
Nagoya area using Japanese technology. This company has substantially 
delayed installing the U.S. technology-based system in Tokyo. Nearly 
five years after the 1989 agreement, and nine years after the MOSS 
discussions began, the new system covers only 40 percent of the Tokyo-
Nagoya area. As a result, because users of the U.S. technology-based 
system still are unable to roam throughout Tokyo-Nagoya, the U.S. 
technology-based system does not have comparable market access with the 
Japanese systems, which offer full geographic coverage.
    USTR has consulted with other executive agencies and the private 
sector during this review, and has had discussions with the Japanese 
Government regarding this agreement on more than seven occasions 
between July, 1993 and February 15, 1994.
    As a result of this review, USTR has determined that MPT's failure 
to ensure full coverage for the U.S. technology-based system in the 
Tokyo-Nagoya area nearly five years after the 1989 third party radio 
and cellular agreement is inconsistent with the terms of that 
agreement, and denies, within the context of the terms of that 
agreement, mutually advantageous market opportunities in Japan for 
telecommunications products and services of the United States.
Irving Williamson,
Chairman, Section 301 Committee.
[FR Doc. 94-4612 Filed 2-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-M