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Digital Trade

55 posts

App Bans and International Trade Obligations

Inside US Trade reports the following discussion of restrictions on TikTok and WeChat at a WTO Council for Trade in Services meeting last week: The U.S. violated World Trade Organization rules with its recently imposed restrictions on Chinese-owned social media platforms TikTok and WeChat, China argued on Friday in

The Discrimination Standard under Section 301

This is from the Section 301 report on France’s Digital Services Tax issued by USTR earlier this week: A. France’s Digital Services Tax Discriminates Against U.S. Digital Companies The evidence collected in this investigation, including witness testimony, written comments, news reports, and expert commentary, indicates that the

Are Social Media Trade Wars Inevitable?

A Washington Post article from last week, which includes the heading "TikTok Rise Could Signal End To Western Web Dominance" in the print version, describes a Chinese social media platform called TikTok as follows: TikTok has quickly become one of America’s most popular mobile apps, a flashy,

U.S. WTO E-commerce Proposal Reads Like USMCA

The United States has put forward a proposal for the recently launched e-commerce talks at the WTO. Bloomberg's Bryce Baschuk broke the news (and uploaded the document), noting there are many similarities to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Digital Trade Chapter (19). He's right. A

China and the WTO E-Commerce Talks

In a recent communication related to the Joint Statement on Electronic Commerce in Davos, China said the following: 4.1. Along with the new opportunities provided by electronic commerce, issues such as cyber security, data safety and privacy are increasingly highlighted, bringing unprecedented security risks and regulatory challenges to Members.

Would the New NAFTA Reduce Policy Uncertainty?

This is a key passage from the ITC's USMCA report: Provisions That Reduce Policy Uncertainty for International Data Transfer, Cross-border Services, and Investment Many of the provisions in USMCA represent commitments to maintaining current regulatory conditions. In many of these cases, firms have operated under regulatory conditions in

What Are Trade Rules on E-Commerce Supposed To Do?

Last week, over 70 countries announced that they will be moving forward with e-commerce talks at the WTO: We confirm our intention to commence WTO negotiations on trade-related aspects of electronic commerce. We will seek to achieve a high standard outcome that builds on existing WTO agreements and frameworks with

Facebook in China

From Bloomberg: Since 2009, China has blocked Facebook, the world's largest online social media network. This year, Renren, one of China's largest social networks, plans to raise $500 million on the New York Stock Exchange (NYX). So a Chinese social network can tap U.S. capital

Google Paper on Free Trade and the Internet

Last week, Google posted a paper entitled "Enabling Trade in the Era of Information Technologies: Breaking Down Barriers to the Free Flow of Information." There's a Technical Appendix (p. 17 of the document) called "Applicability of the WTO rules to restrictions on free flow of

The U.S. Position on Free Trade and the Internet

In Foreign Affairs, this is from Betsy Gelb and Emmanuel Yujuico (of IPE Zone): Another example of a failed effort to apply a largely American vision of technology to a non-U.S. cultural environment involves the Internet search giant Google. In January, after the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights