The Trump administration will start the formal NAFTA renegotiation process after the Senate confirms U.S. Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer, said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. “USTR drives that,” Spicer said. “And so our focus is getting that done, and then we'll be ready to go.” A more detailed work plan for renegotiating NAFTA -- including submittal of the required 90-day notice to Congress before international negotiations can begin in earnest -- will likely materialize after Lighthizer’s prospective confirmation, Spicer said Monday. “But as of right now, that's not there.” Speaking Tuesday to a group of CEOs, President Donald Trump said renegotiating NAFTA will bring "some very pleasant surprises," said a pool report. The Senate Finance Committee postponed its consideration of Lighthizer until after the Senate’s spring break (see 1704070016) ending April 24.

Customs and Border Protection seized counterfeit mobile phone accessories March 14 at the Charleston seaport that would be worth about $1.1 million if legitimate, the agency said on Tuesday in a news release. CBP said the merchandise, which included phone cases, chargers, cables and headphones, "arrived into the port from China and was destined for upstate South Carolina." Some 38,000 counterfeit power adapters with FCC marking, "signifying they’d been tested in an accredited FCC laboratory and met certain operating standards," were also seized, said CBP. "These were found to be unauthorized markings as well -- a potentially significant safety risk to unwitting consumers."

The SEC won't enforce a rule that requires companies to declare when products aren't conflict mineral free, the Corporation Finance Division said. It follows a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruling that the requirement violates the First Amendment. The SEC will now decide how to implement the Dodd-Frank Act provisions that mandated conflict minerals reporting. "In light of the … regulatory uncertainties, until these issues are resolved, it is difficult to conceive of a circumstance that would counsel in favor of enforcing Item 1.01(c) of Form SD,” Acting SEC Chairman Michael Piwowar said Friday. Last week, a tech group sought reporting changes, at a hearing (see 1704070017).

The World Customs Organization said a recent U.S. increase in e-commerce considered de minimis in trade rules spurred challenges in global trading. The continuous increase in online trading necessitates a broad, international customs approach to deal with regulation, consumer protection, revenue collection and national security, WCO reported. Technological solutions are developing to address e-commerce challenges, with automated systems. The WCO launched an e-commerce site for related information, including ongoing work of the WCO’s multistakeholder Working Group on E-Commerce, the WCO said Friday.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative highlighted concerns about other countries' adoption of data localization laws and other barriers to digital trade, in its annual National Trade Estimate report Friday. Other identified digital trade barriers included restrictions on “digital products, Internet-enabled services, and other restrictive technology requirements,” USTR said. The office included a digital trade barriers section on every country included in the NTE. BSA|The Software Alliance praised USTR for including digital trade barriers. “Eliminating barriers that prevent BSA members and other US companies from providing their products and services around the world is critical,” said BSA President Victoria Espinel in a statement.

If the Trump administration pushes through a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, it should be mindful of implications for telecom, said Stuart Brotman, nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, in a blog post. The telecom provisions have probably done more good than harm, Brotman wrote Friday. “They include a ‘bill of rights’ for providers and users of telecommunications services that cover access to public telecommunications services; connection to private lines that reflect economic costs and availability of flat-rate pricing; and the right to choose, purchase, or lease terminal equipment.” One approach would be to take the telecom provisions off the table, but a better path might be to expand their scope to focus on trade barriers, Brotman said. “Barriers such as international roaming rates for mobile calls, restrictions on cross-border transfer of digital information (such as electronic payments and digital signatures), and the forced localization of data centers have a detrimental impact on American companies,” he wrote. “The Trump administration would be well-advised to advocate for a broader bill of rights that adheres to the notion of freedom of choice. It should uphold the ability of U.S. companies to offer their world-class information services in Canada and Mexico. Such a position may be easier to gain in a renegotiated agreement since the other items on the NAFTA version 2.0 agenda (e.g., tariffs) undoubtedly will receive greater scrutiny and are likely to be far more contentious.”

LG Electronics filed a Tariff Act Section 337 complaint seeking a ban on imports of LTE wireless communication devices imported by BLU Products. LG said BLU’s Dash, Energy, Life, Neo, Pure, Speed, Studio, Vivo, Win and R1 HD mobile phone products infringe its patents, and are imported by CT Miami, a company related to BLU, on BLU’s behalf. As technologies essential to the LTE communication standard, LG committed to license use of the patents on fair terms, but BLU didn't respond to LG attempts to negotiate a fair and reasonable licensing deal, LG said. LG seeks a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders banning import and sale of infringing LTE mobile devices by BLU. The International Trade Commission is seeking comment by April 10, it said in Friday's Federal Register. LG also is pursuing BLU in court (see 1703270059). BLU didn't comment Friday.

Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security removed ZTE from a trade blacklist after the company pleaded guilty earlier this month to export-related violations (see 1703230038). BIS added one Chinese individual to the entity list, Shi Lirong, who was ZTE CEO when company documents that had detailed the firm's illicit export plan were signed. Those documents indicated ZTE organized a scheme to establish shell companies to Iran in violation of U.S. export control laws, BIS said in Wednesday's Federal Register.

The U.K. informed the European Council of its intention to exit the EU, after British Prime Minister Theresa May signed Article 50 triggering the two-year legal process for Brexit negotiations. In a statement to British Parliament Wednesday, May pledged to pursue a "bold and ambitious" free trade agreement with the EU and outside countries, including the "fastest-growing export markets in the world." "Europe has a responsibility to stand up for free trade in the interests of all our citizens," she said. Brexit hasn't affected the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield deal (see 1606280024) but may affect telecom and tech otherwise (see 1606240021 and 1606220001).

Nearly one in five mobile phones and one in four videogame consoles shipped internationally are counterfeit, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said Tuesday. “Smartphone batteries, chargers, memory cards, magnetic stripe cards, solid state drives and music players are also increasingly falling prey to counterfeiters,” OECD said in a news release. On average, 6.5 percent of global trade in information and communication technology (ICT) goods consists of counterfeit products, according to an analysis of 2013 customs data, OECD said. That's significantly higher than the 2.5 percent of overall goods found to be counterfeit, in a 2016 report. “Launched just ahead of the 2017 OECD Global Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum on March 30-31, the report says the high value of smartphones and ICT accessories and insatiable demand makes them a lucrative target for counterfeiters, and cautions that the number and range of affected products is growing,” the organization said. “Counterfeit ICT goods entail health and safety risks, service outages and loss of income for companies and governments.”