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

the EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council,

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.

to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments—and on fisheries subsidies by the end of February 2022.

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

Exports plunged 19 percent in 2020, versus a 12-, 7-, and 5-percent drop for North and Latin America, Europe, and Asia, respectively, while recovery in Africa has not been as strong as on other continents.

African small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) employ 70 to 90 percent of the workforce and are called upon to play a major role in absorbing the hundreds of millions of young Africans who will arrive on the market by 2050.

recognize the importance of international standardisation activities underpinned by core WTO principles.

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

Thepandemic questioned some of the basic tenets of the open and cooperative international order. Global exchanges, international communication, and cross-border trade have all seen a vast decrease.

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

Without global trade and investments,we cannot solve the challenges we are facing. Thiswill require job creation, openness, rules-based trade and fewer trade barriers. Free trade creates win-win solutions. Protectionism does not

Such a scenario would severely constrain those states who want to trade globally and secure tech-related supplies. Eager to avoid taking sides, they could be forced to form a “Technological Non-Alignment Movement”to mitigate risks at the intersection of technologies and geopolitics

mr president in sierra leone through our quick action economic response program we are building fiscal resilience by investing in agriculture human capital development and expanding productivity through economic diversification but we believe our post-covered recovery will be anchored in increased a private sector investments international trade and development financing

governments needed to protect theirpeople that was the first thing we hadto do was protect our compatriots butalso we needed to be aware or alert tothe fact that that protectionshould not then become protectionismwe needed freedom to tradefreedom to competefor excellency and competition foraccess to markets

Instead of continuing to fight the wars of the past, we are fixing our eyes on devoting our resources to the challenges that hold the keys to our collective future: ending this pandemic; addressing the climate crisis; managing the shifts in global power dynamics; shaping the rules of the world on vital issues like trade, cyber, and emerging technologies; and facing the threat of terrorism as it stands today

La création de la Zone de Libre échange continentale africaine, ZLECAF, procède de cette prise de conscience, de la volonté des africains de consolider leur indépendance économiqueetd’un impératif de développement de l’Afriquedans un monde où les pauvres n’ont droit qu’à la commisération et au mépris.Réussir la ZLECAF, c’est-à-dire la rendre effective et la transformer en un vaste marché de plus d’un milliard de consommateurs, devient ainsiun enjeuetundéfi majeurs aussi bien pour lesdirigeants que pourélites africaines au cours de ce 21ièmesiècle.