Tech companies are telling their representatives that voting for the compromise U.S.-Mexico-Canada [trade] Agreement (USMCA) is a "key vote."
That came in a letter from the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), with copies to all House members.
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The association scores items that are must yes votes in terms of the interests of its tech constituency.
ITI cites "first-of-its-kind, cutting-edge digital trade provisions." Those include promoting cross-border data flows, allowing data storage "where it makes most sense," preventing tariffs and tech taxes, protecting source code and algorithms by disallowing divulging those as a condition of doing business, and creating consistent testing and certification of tech goods.
"[W]e urge you and your colleagues to support the implementing legislation for the agreement when it comes to the House floor," wrote ITT President Jason Oxman. "American companies of all sizes and across all industries leverage technology, and can expect to benefit from the USMCA’s digital trade and other tech-focused provisions."
ITI members include Amazon, Apple, eBay, Google, Twitter and Microsoft.
