Content and Consumer Electronics Industries Unite to Advocate Pro-International Trade...

Content and Consumer Electronics Industries Unite to Advocate Pro-International Trade Policymaking

CEA, MPAA, RIAA Formally Ask Congress to Act
LAS VEGAS--(Business Wire)--The content and consumer electronics industries united around a
policy issue driving both industries - international trade. Today, the
Consumer Electronics Association (CEA(R)), the Motion Picture
Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA) delivered a letter to congressional leadership
asking them to advocate a strong trade agenda during the second half
of the 110th Congressional Session. Gary Shapiro, CEA president and
CEO, announced the letter earlier today during his opening remarks at
the 2008 International CES(R), the world's largest consumer technology
tradeshow, which runs through Wednesday.

Dan Glickman, MPAA chairman and CEO and Mitch Bainwol, RIAA
chairman and CEO joined Shapiro as signatories to the letter thanking
Congress for passage of the Peru free trade agreement (FTA) and
seeking additional actions to reduce foreign trade barriers.
Specifically, the organizations asked Congress to pass pending FTAs
with Colombia, Panama and the Republic of Korea, and to create a
pathway for renewal of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) that would
allow the President to more easily negotiate additional trade
agreements.

In their letter, the association heads argued, "The U.S. consumer
electronics, motion picture, and recording industries are among the
strongest drivers of American innovation and economic growth. Our
industries promote the currency of democracy: ingenuity, innovation
and the pursuit of personal and artistic expression. The growth of our
industries, and our ability to promote American values, depends on
access to foreign markets.

"We ask for your continued leadership in reducing foreign trade
barriers and allowing us to sell the fruits of our industries' genius
around the globe so that our industries can continue to create
high-paying U.S. jobs and contribute to the U.S. economy."

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January 7, 2008

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi The Honorable Harry Reid
Speaker of the House Majority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives United States Senate
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable John Boehner The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader Republican Leader
U.S. House of Representatives United States Senate
Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20510

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid:

On behalf of the members of the Consumer Electronics Association
(CEA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), we ask you to
advocate a strong trade agenda during the second half of the 110th
Congressional Session.

Specifically, we thank you for passage of the Peru Free Trade
Agreement and ask you to support ratification of the Columbia, Panama
and Republic of Korea bilateral Free Trade Agreements (FTA). The
pending bilateral trade agreements, if approved, will eliminate
harmful tariffs, reinforce our commitment to strong intellectual
property rights, and establish a level playing field for American
workers by insisting on greater standards and transparencies abroad.
They will benefit our industries, our economy, our artists and our
consumers.

We also encourage you to provide a clear pathway for the renewal of
Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). The United States' ability to
negotiate and ratify Free Trade Agreements, in a timely manner, is
critical to future trade negotiations and the long term health and
success of our industries. Without Trade Promotion Authority, the
United States significantly jeopardizes its position as a global
competitor and may fall behind the European Union, Japan, China, and
other groups currently negotiating trade agreements.

The U.S. consumer electronics, motion picture, and recording
industries are among the strongest drivers of American innovation and
economic growth. Our industries promote the currency of democracy:
ingenuity, innovation and the pursuit of personal and artistic
expression. The growth of our industries, and our ability to promote
American values, depends on access to foreign markets. We urge that
progress toward global economic and social engagement through trade
not be derailed as we move into the digital era, where American
innovation and creativity have natural advantages. A retreat from
international commerce would also be a retreat from the traditional
American role of global economic and diplomatic leadership.

Instead, we ask for your continued leadership in reducing foreign
trade barriers and allowing us to sell the fruits of our industries'
genius around the globe so that our industries can continue to create
high-paying U.S. jobs and contribute to the U.S. economy. That means
passing pending FTAs and paving the way for the President to more
easily negotiate others.

Thank you for all that you do on behalf creativity and innovation.

Sincerely,

Gary Shapiro
President and CEO
Consumer Electronics Association

Dan Glickman
Chairman and CEO
Motion Picture Association of America

Mitch Bainwol
Chairman and CEO
Recording Industry Association of America
*T

CEA
Jason Oxman, 703-907-7664
joxman@ce.org
or
MPAA
Angela Belden Martinez, 202-293-1966
Angela_Martinez@mpaa.org
or
RIAA
Cara Duckworth, 202-857-9629
CDuckworth@riaa.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008