DigiTrade Digest #20
China's quest to control big tech, Whatsapp puts new privacy policy on hold in India, new hurdles for US Kenya trade deal
Big Tech
China
In a quest to rein in its tech giants, China turns to data protection
C: Last year, Beijing published the draft version of the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), laying out for the first time a comprehensive set of rules around data collection and protection. Previously, various pieces of piecemeal legislation governed data.
It’s seen as part of a bigger effort to rein in the power of Chinese technology giants which were able to grow unencumbered over the past few years through the vast collection of data to train algorithms and build products, experts said.
In February, China issued revised antitrust rules for so-called “platform economy” companies, which is a broad-brush term for internet firms operating a variety of services from e-commerce to food delivery.
“The government wants to rein in some ... of those technology giants,” Rachel Li, a Beijing-based partner at the Zhong Lun Law Firm, told CNBC by phone. “This legislation ... goes along with other efforts such as antitrust.”
India
WhatsApp says privacy policy on hold till enactment of data privacy law
TheIndianExpress: WhatsApp and Facebook have approached the High Court against the CCI order dated March 24, in which the competition regulator came to a prima facie conclusion that the conduct of WhatsApp in “sharing of users’ personalised data with other Facebook companies, in a manner that is neither fully transparent nor based on voluntary and specific user consent” appears unfair to users. The CCI had ordered the DG to complete the investigation within 60 days.
A single-judge bench of the High Court had on April 22 dismissed the petitions filed by WhatsApp and Facebook which have been arguing that the issue related to the privacy policy is already pending before the Supreme Court and High Court. The companies have approached the division bench in appeal against the single-bench decision and the CCI order.
Trade
US
USTR's Tai urges Canada to abandon digital tax, uphold home shopping commitments
Reuters: U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Tuesday told her Canadian counterpart to drop a proposed digital services tax in light of an OECD agreement that commits 131 countries to eliminate such taxes, Tai's office said on Tuesday.
Tai met with Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng before traveling to Mexico to mark the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement's entry into force.
Tai "stressed the importance of Canada fully meeting its home shopping commitments under the USMCA," USTR said.
UK
UK signs trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein
Reuters: Britain's government said it signed a free trade deal with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein on Thursday, its latest post-Brexit trade agreement.
The deal would help sectors including digital, financial and professional business services and cut tariffs for British exports, the trade ministry said.
The signing of the deal on Thursday followed an agreement in principle reached last month by the four countries.
Kenya
Kenya, America trade deal faces fresh hurdle in Congress
Business Daily: Negotiations for a free trade deal between Kenya and the United States face fresh hurdles after the expiry of a key legislative tool for getting faster Congress approval, dimming the prospects for its conclusion.
President Joe Biden allowed the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which delegates powers to the US head of state to fast track trade negotiations with the Congress, to expire on July 1.
In the absence of a TPA, any deals reached would be subject to amendments by US legislators and would face difficulties getting ratified.
This will affect trade deals already in the works like the negotiations with the United Kingdom and Kenya, which had hoped for a speedy conclusion of the talks that were official opened in July last year.
When protected by that legislation, trade deals such as the one Kenya is negotiating are effectively “fast tracked” through the US Congress, with lawmakers unable to make substantial changes or amendments to the text of the deal.
President Biden did not ask for the renewal of the authority, with his administration saying that it was reviewing progress of talks with Kenya to make sure that potential accords are consistent with his pledge to prioritize workers.
Instead, the US administration sought more time to scrutinise the pact that had been negotiated by his predecessor, Donald Trump.