Digitrade Digest #27
US -EU Transatlantic Cooperation's first joint declaration; UK has plans to breakdown digital trade barriers and UNCTAD Digital Trade Report 2021 is here.
EU- US Transatlantic Cooperation
U.S., EU agree to work on chip supplies, tech rules, China trade
ers: The meetings were led by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis, and European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager.
They met in a robotics and AI technology development center built inside the rusted skeleton of a former steel rolling mill topped with solar panels, a symbol of Pittsburgh's post-industrial rebirth as a tech hub.
The meeting was nearly derailed by French anger over a U.S. decision this month to supply Australia with nuclear submarines, which prompted Canberra to scrap a $40 billion submarine contract with France.
But the U.S. and EU governments backed a joint declaration to strengthen semiconductor supply chains, focusing initially on easing short-term supply bottlenecks and later on identifying longer-term vulnerabilities and "strengthening our domestic semiconductor ecosystems, from research, design to manufacturing, with a view to improving resilience."
They said they would work to avoid a subsidy race to attract chip investments and seek "the right incentives."
The statement did not specify a time frame for a second TTC meeting, but EU officials said this would likely take place in the spring of 2022 in Europe.
BIG TECH POWER
Reuters was first to report a draft statement revealing a more unified approach to limit the growing market power of Big Tech. This was echoed in the final statement that identified common areas of concern such as illegal and harmful content amplified by algorithms.
"We are committed to transatlantic cooperation regarding platform policies that focus on disinformation, product safety, counterfeit products, and other harmful content," the statement said.
With the United States and Europe trying to restrain the growing power of American tech giants such as Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google, Facebook (FB.O), Apple (AAPL.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O), such cooperation would make it harder for the U.S. tech industry to fight new rules.
US
U.S. trade chief Tai to unveil Biden's China trade strategy on Monday
Reuters: U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will unveil the Biden administration’s long-awaited strategy for the troubled U.S.-China trade relationship in a speech on Monday at a Washington think tank, her office said.
Tai will deliver remarks on her review of China trade policy at the Center for Strategic Studies in Washington and participate in a question-and-answer session, USTR said in a statement on Thursday.
Since taking office in March, Tai has been conducting a top-to-bottom review of Washington’s China trade policy.
U.S. Joe Biden has kept in place tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese imports imposed by former president Donald Trump, but his administration has so far revealed little about how it will address what it calls China’s non-market trade and subsidy practices.
UK
Trevelyan: Break down digital trade barriers to help British businesses thrive
GOV.UK: The Department for International Trade will today publish a five-point plan for establishing a free and fair digital trade landscape to help UK businesses and consumers thrive.
Many businesses currently face barriers that restrict their ability to benefit from digital technology, such as paperless trading, or force them to meet unjustified requirements to localise data or disclose their intellectual properties such as source code.
Making digital trade easier will allow businesses in every sector to reach more customers by making it simpler to sell online and helping them trade efficiently and cost-effectively.
Consumers will enjoy greater access to international marketplaces offering wider variety and more affordable products and services. They will also benefit from a secure digital economy which will remain underpinned by the UK’s strong data protection safeguards.
Under the five-point plan, DIT will:
1. Facilitate more open digital markets to ensure British consumers and businesses benefit from greater access to digital markets in other countries.
2. Advocate free and trusted cross-border data flows that will make it simpler and cheaper for businesses who use data to trade internationally while maintaining the UK’s high standards for personal data protection.
3. Champion consumer and business safeguards through enhanced consumer and intellectual property protections.
4. Promote the development and adoption of innovative digital trading systems such as digital customs processes, e-contracting and paperless trading, which can cut red tape and make trade easier, cheaper, faster, and more secure.
5. Establish global cooperation on digital trade via free trade agreements with international partners and using our G7 presidency and seat at the WTO to push for countries to become more open to digital trade.
UNCTAD
UNCTAD: Digital Economy Report 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the process of digital transformation and added urgency for Governments to respond. A key challenge is how to govern and harness the surge in digital data for the global good. It has been estimated that global Internet traffic in 2022 will exceed all the Internet traffic up to 2016.
Data have become a key strategic asset for the creation of both private and social value. How these data are handled will greatly affect our ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Determining what is the best way forward will be difficult but necessary. Data are multidimensional, and their use has implications not just for trade and economic development but also for human rights, peace and security. Responses are also needed to mitigate the risk of abuse and misuse of data by States, non- State actors or the private sector.
Against this background, I welcome the Digital Economy Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which examines the implications of growing cross-border data flows, especially for developing countries. It proposes to reframe and broaden the international policy debate with a view to building multilateral consensus.
It is more important than ever to embark on a new path for digital and data governance. The current fragmented data landscape risks us failing to capture value that could accrue from digital technologies and it may create more space for substantial harms related to privacy breaches, cyberattacks and other risks.
Digital Economy Report 2021
The Report calls for innovative approaches to governing data and data flows to ensure more equitable distribution of the gains from data flows while addressing risks and concerns. A holistic global policy approach has to reflect the multiple and interlinked dimensions of data and balance different interests and needs in a way that supports inclusive and sustainable development with the full involvement of countries trailing behind in digital readiness.
The United Nations offers a natural platform to advance this agenda with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders. This Report offers valuable insights and analyses, and I commend it to a wide global audience as we strive to close the digital divide and ensure that no one is left behind in the fast-evolving, data-driven digital economy.