Qualcomm welcomes bipartisan deal on U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement

Qualcomm applauds the work of Congress and the Office of the United States Trade Representative to reach a bipartisan deal on the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA). It is an important outcome for both American technology companies and the international trade in which Qualcomm’s inventions play so big a role.

In particular, we welcome USMCA’s inclusion of strong protection for intellectual property rights and enhanced defenses again trade-secret theft, the agreement’s new chapter covering cyber and the cross-border exchange of data, and a groundbreaking chapter on competition that provides robust procedural protections aimed at assuring a fair and level playing field.

We are especially pleased with provisions that ensure strong and effective protection and enforcement of the IP rights critical to Qualcomm’s work inventing and bringing to market 5G and so many other facets of cutting-edge innovation in wireless technology. These include support for best-practices in patent policy that allows invention companies, large and small, to protect the fruits of their investment and R&D with patents. The cyber provisions, too, lay a foundation for expanding trade and investment in an area of commerce that is, almost by definition, without frontiers. The USMCA ensures that data can be transferred across borders, and it minimizes limits on where data can be stored, bolstering the global digital ecosystem.

As a whole, the USMCA, which enjoys support in Mexico and Canada, reduces uncertainty about trade in our home hemisphere and is a welcome development for Qualcomm and our global contributions to telecommunications.