I agree. Other than test code we develop internally for use in develop, every product I work on is subject to some level of testing at Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory for standards compliance. Qualification makes our products easier to sell, and the system works fairly well because they're developed by voting in our industrial membership groups such as IEEE and NEMA, then written into safety codes like the NEC published by NFPA. The adoption as express law by whichever body has jurisdiction over the product is the heart of the problem because

At every one of those steps my employer is paying something. Except for the adoption by the authority having jurisdiction, which along with the public it represents appears to be free riders despite providing a public benefit and having taxing authority. I suppose my employer could foot part of the bill for the SDOs as a cost of doing business in all of those jurisdictions but I'm not sure how difficult it would be given that these govt entities vary in size from states down to municipalities.

Nor is it clear how equitable it would be to tax only domestic OEMs but not the foreign ones.

How are the overseas SDOs funded?