Stay Secure with ALOGIC’s TAA-Compliant Docks

Risk management is a critical component of modern business and one of the most powerful tools organisations have to safeguard against a variety of cybersecurity and supply chain risk vectors is the procurement of TAA-compliant electronics.

What is the TAA?

The Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (TAA) is an Act of Congress which provides a framework designed to ‘foster the growth and maintenance of an open world trading system”, while facilitating the enforcement of trade rules and requirements across borders. This allows the US government and organisations to take advantage of foreign made goods without exposing them to the legal and political risks that international trade can entail, including unfair trade practices and goods which do not comply with US legislation.

What TAA-compliant mean?

TAA-compliance means a product was manufactured in compliance with the Trade Agreements Act and can thus take advantage of its special trading privileges.

What is TAA-compliant is largely answered by where an item is manufactured – goods made (or “substantially transformed”) in countries which adhere to World Trade Organisation’s Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA) are generally going to be TAA-compliant, a list that includes the US, Canada, most of the European Union, Australia, Japan, South Korea and ‘Chinese Taipei’ (Taiwan) among others.

In adhering to the WTO GPA, these countries have all undergone a substantial alignment of their trade and procurement practices, resulting in substantially reduced supply chain risk in doing business with manufacturers of TAA-compliant electronics, a powerful advantage in today’s rapidly evolving trade landscape.

TAA-compliance and Cyber Risk

Notably absent from the above list of TAA-compliant origins are a variety of countries which are often considered to be geopolitical rivals or adversaries by the United States and those associated with state-sponsored cyber-crime.

Imported electronics are a critical cybersecurity risk vector, both from a national security perspective and from organisations at risk of infiltration by malicious actors, who may seek to extort them through ransomware or steal digital assets or intellectual property.

Acting as connective hubs between a variety of different digital devices, including computers, keyboards, mice, displays, portable storage and SD Cards, docking stations are a natural attack vector for malicious actors.

This makes the procurement of secure docking stations a priority in sectors such as healthcare, finance (fintech), legal, education, utilities and others which hold personal or economically sensitive data which cannot afford to be compromised.   

While far from the only step an organisation should take to manage its cyber-risk, using only docking stations which meet TAA-compliance requirements is a simple yet powerful step in enhancing an organisation’s cybersecurity.

TAA-compliance and Federal Procurement

For many, the most important aspect of this legislation is that it allows the President to waive the Buy American Act, which then allows the Federal Government to procure foreign-made goods as long as that they are TAA-compliant. This has the dual purpose of promoting economic ties between the United States and aligned countries, while mitigating the risk of hostile actors gaining a foothold within the Federal Government’s information systems.

TAA-compliance is just one of the standards ALOGIC works towards to ensure our electronics are suitable for use in Federal Government contexts, reducing the barriers to procurement which can lead to delays or cost-overruns in federal projects.  

ALOGIC’s TAA-Compliant Docking Stations

ALOGIC has developed a robust range of TAA-compliant docking stations to cover a wide variety of use cases and applications, ranging from connecting a USB-A laptop to two HD monitors through to triple 4K connectivity for specialised workstations.

These docking stations are not only manufactured in TAA-compliant countries with full adherence to the relevant legislation, but with tight control maintained over the product’s entire supply chain, resulting in complete transparency of origin for organisations that require it or to assist with auditory requirements.

ALOGIC’s TAA-compliant docks include:

DUPRDX2-WW – A Dual 4K Display Dock with DisplayLink and 65W Laptop Charging

DUPRDX2-100 – A Dual 4K Display Dock with DisplayLink and 100W Laptop Charging

DUPRMX2-WW - A Dual 4K Display Dock with MST and 65W Laptop Charging

DUPRMX2-100 - A Dual 4K Display Dock with MST and 100W Laptop Charging

DUTHD – A Dual 1080p Display Dock with DisplayLink

DUTHDPR - A Dual 1080p Display Dock with DisplayLink and 85W Laptop Charging

Additionally, the following docks are available in TAA-compliant batches:

DUPRDX3-WW – A Triple 4K Display Dock with DisplayLink and 100W Laptop Charging

DUPRMX3-WW  - A Triple 4K Display Dock with MST and 100W Laptop Charging

If you’re interested in purchasing either of these two docks in a TAA-mandatory context, please get in touch with us at sales@alogic.co so we can ensure your units are compliant. Our sales team would also be more than pleased to answer any questions you have about the capabilities or compliance of our wider range of TAA-compliant docking stations.

Click here to explore our full range of secure docking stations.