Digitrade Digest #61
US-Taiwan to talk trade, UK to reform its data laws?, TikTok commits to align with EU rules and more
UK-Thailand
Joint Statement on UK-Thailand Joint Economic and Trade Committee
Gov.uk: The UK Minister of State for Trade Policy, Penny Mordaunt, and Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, Jurin Laksanawisit, held positive and productive talks in London to explore ways of increasing bilateral trade and committing to an ambitious trading relationship. They signed off a programme of work, including Government-to-Government and Government-to-Business activity, to advance opportunities to increase trade over the next 12-18 months.
Digital
The Ministers were pleased to note a Letter of Intent on Digital Cooperation was signed between the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and the Thai Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. This will strengthen the digital and technological ties and facilitate opportunities for dialogue between the UK and Thailand on digital cooperation, between the UK and Thailand, enabling our economies to harness the benefits of digital technologies and an open and competitive digital economy.
UK
Fed up with endless cookie consent boxes? The UK plans to kill them off
CNBC: Digital Minister Nadine Dorries is seeking to push forward reforms to the U.K.’s data laws after the country’s withdrawal from the European Union.
However, some are worried that the shift may move British data standards too far from those of the EU, threatening a so-called “adequacy” arrangement that allows for the free flow of data between the two.
“EU adequacy decisions do not require countries to have the same rules,” a government spokesperson told CNBC.
“Our view is that these reforms are fully compatible with maintaining the free flow of personal data from Europe.”
Herbert Swaniker, a tech lawyer at law firm Clifford Chance, said the EU would be keeping a close watch on the U.K. plans.
“These reforms will need to carefully balance maintenance of this hard-won decision,” Swaniker said. “Some are concerned that reform could threaten the EU’s decision to allow free flow of personal data to the U.K.”
The British government said it also wants to increase fines for nuisance callers from a current maximum of £500,000 to up to 4% of a firm’s global turnover or £17.5 million, whichever is the higher amount.
Such changes will affect a 2003 privacy law rather than the U.K.’s version of the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation, which seeks to give people more control over how their data is used by organizations and threatens hefty fines for noncompliance.
Another measure means small businesses won’t have to appoint a data protection officer responsible for overseeing internal compliance, provided firms “can manage risks effectively themselves.”
The government says the reforms will cut unnecessary red tape, resulting in savings of £1 billion for businesses over 10 years.
But some experts worry they may actually lead to more hassle for companies by forcing them to implement separate data standards for the U.K. and EU.
Cillian Kieran, CEO of data security firm Ethyca, said doing away with cookie consent banners altogether “could destabilize the U.K.’s ability to innovate globally.”
“To altogether remove commonplace mechanisms for legal bases for web analytics, site performance, marketing and more poses significant business limitations,” he told CNBC last month.
“For instance, an international market might only be open to U.K. businesses if they take additional steps for data protection, such as limiting their data collection or processing the data in that country.”
The Data & Marketing Association, a trade body for marketers, said it welcomes the government’s proposals but added “not every recommendation made by our member organizations has been adopted.”
“We will continue to seek greater clarity in the final legislative texts around the use of legitimate interests,” said Chris Combemale, the association’s CEO.
Taiwan
Taiwan, US to talk trade within days
Taipeitimes: The first meeting of a newly launched Taiwan-US trade initiative would be held in Washington before the end of this month, with Taipei’s ultimate goal being the signing of a trade agreement with Washington, Taiwan’s top trade negotiator said.
The first in-person meeting of the “US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade” since its launch on June 1 would be held in the last week of this month, Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) told the Central News Agency during an interview in London on Friday.
The trade pact Taiwan aims to sign with the US would not be a free-trade agreement that involves tariff negotiations, Deng said.
That is because the US Congress has not authorized its government to sign free-trade agreements with any country, he said.
Deng would not give a timetable for the signing of such an agreement with Washington, saying only that Taipei has demonstrated its clear commitment to reaching the deal.
The two sides would focus their negotiations on 11 areas, including trade facilitation, regulatory practices, standards, state-owned enterprises, nonmarket policies and practices, and countering corruption, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) said in a news release.
Other areas to be touched on within the initiative are the support of small and medium-sized enterprises in trade, digital trade and worker-centric trade, while the two sides would also explore ways to promote agriculture and climate action, the USTR said.
The first in-person meeting would focus on exactly how both sides should engage in “meaningful” discussions on the 11 topics, Deng said.
Both sides would not engage in more in-depth, substantial talks until Taiwan and the US have completed related preparations, including talking with private businesses, he added.
The new trade initiative was launched after Taiwan was excluded from the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), launched on May 23 by US President Joe Biden.
Comparing the new trade initiative to the IPEF, Deng said the former is more concrete than the latter, as Taiwan knows exactly what to expect in the negotiations.
However, he said that Taiwan is still hoping to join the IPEF.
Deng was visiting the UK from Thursday to Saturday to meet with British politicians and academics to learn from their experience in applying to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade pact.
The CPTPP, which grew out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership after the US left the pact in January 2017, is one of the world’s biggest trade blocs, representing a market of 500 million people and accounting for 13.5 percent of global trade.
Its 11 signatories are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Taiwan applied to join the CPTPP on Sept. 22 last year, less than a week after China also applied for membership to the trade group, suggesting Taipei might have been rushing in response to Beijing’s bid.
Asked to comment, Deng said both sides of the Taiwan Strait have now officially applied to join the CPTPP.
Big Tech
EU Consumer protection: TikTok commits to align with EU rules to better protect consumers
ec.europa.com: Following dialogues with the Commission and the network of national consumer protection (CPC) authorities, TikTok has committed to align its practices with the EU rules on advertising and consumer protection, namely, the Unfair commercial practices Directive, the Consumer rights Directive and the Unfair contract terms Directive. This dialogue first originated from a complaint of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC). In February 2021, BEUC raised the alarm regarding certain problematic practices of TikTok allegedly breaching EU consumer rules. For instance, BEUC had found that the social media platform was failing to protect children from hidden advertising and inappropriate content. Following the complaint, the Commission, together with the CPC, and led by the Irish and Swedish consumer authorities, launched a dialogue with TikTok. The series of concerns have now been addressed and TikTok committed to change its practices.