U.S should negotiate a digital trade agreement with like-minded countries to ensure protection on issues including moving data across borders, the nation’s largest business lobby group has said.
On Wednesday, the US Chamber of Commerce outlined the case in a document. The organization identifies a group of countries that would be good partners. These include Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Information and communications technology exports supported about 317,000 jobs in 2020, similar to US aircraft and aerospace exports, the entity said, adding that the US digital economy, valued at US$2 trillion in 2019, it is growing nearly three times faster than the economy as a whole.
The american exports of services that could potentially be offered digitally, such as management and consulting, and financial advisory services, have more than doubled in the last decade, with developed economies, including Europe and Asia Pacific, the main markets, the US-based group said. Washington.
“Export opportunities for digitally tradable services are expanding rapidly and the US is well positioned to build on its formidable advantages in these areas,” the Chamber said. “However, these opportunities are jeopardized by the spread of digital protectionism and the buildup of discriminatory digital rules that often target corporate America.”
The Biden Administration has been working on an economic framework agreement with Asian nations and plans to share more details in the coming weeks. The US aims for the Indo-Pacific economic framework to include digital issues such as data localization and cross-border data flows, US Deputy Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi said last week.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who leads the US work with Trade Representative Katherine Tai, announced the plan in November after talks with Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. The Biden Administration has made it clear that it will not rejoin the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) after then-President Donald Trump abandoned an earlier version of the pact.
Source: Gestion
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