The U.S. withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and continued aversion to multilateral trade agreements severely limit its ability to shape the rules guiding digital trade. Although the digital chapters of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), as well as the U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement, have strong protections for cross-border data flows, the United States has been sidelined as other trade groups come together. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an agreement among fifteen countries in the Asia-Pacific, for example, represents 30 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and entered into force without the United States on January 1, 2022. RCEP’s provisions regarding data localization, restrictions on cross-border data flows, and policies that champion domestic industry are, however, weak

The United States has taken itself out of the game on digital trade.

As former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe put it, the goal should be to establish “data flows with trust,” not to promote Western-style democracy

Section 2.  Pittsburgh outcomes

38. We recognize the dynamism of the digital economy in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and enabling global economic recovery.

The ideal of a single, deeply integrated global trade system – embodied in the founding of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) – no longer seems realistic.

Digital Platforms and Global Value Chains

Some African countries are already implementing ECD by mobilizing national public institutions and their diplomatic network to create opportunities

At the national level, Singapore is already building partnerships with many countries. 57. We have concluded Digital Economy Agreements with several partners.58. We co-lead the WTO Joint Statement Initiative on e-commerce with Japan and Australia, which now includes more than 80 member economies and comprise 90% of global trade

Today, we see some countries receiving a ‘digital dividend’ while others suffer the consequences of a ‘digital divide.’There is need to address urgently the latterin support of COVID-19 adaptationmeasures,response and recovery efforts. Accelerated digitalization, remote work and education, e-commerce and the virtual delivery of essential services, have

TheGovernmentprioritizestheimprovementofourdigitalconnectivity,asdigitaltradeholdsgreatpotentialforinclusivegrowthandso-cio-economicdevelopment

Por otra parte, no puedo dejar de destacar que lastimosamente la brecha digital persiste y el rápido progreso de las tecnologías digitales y el comercio electrónico se ha convertido en un instrumento que puede ayudar en la recuperación económica. Sin embargo, la brecha digital impide que estos beneficios se compartan equitativamente. Y cuando sucede esto, las tecnologías digitales y el comercio electrónico se convierten en instrumentos para consolidar ese injusto orden mundial.

U.S.-EU Trade and Te chnology Council InauguralJoint State me ntSe pte mbe r 29, 2021Pitts burgh, Pe nns ylvania