The Biden administration’s decision to withdraw U.S. support for digital trade provisions at the World Trade Organization and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a move that has riled the tech industry, has congressional Democrats taking opposite sides over the issue.
In late October the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative informed the WTO that it was withdrawing its backing for e-commerce rules first proposed by the Trump administration in 2019.
Those provisions would require free cross-border data flows, allowing tech companies that collect data from users in one country to freely move it to another; prohibit localization restrictions that ensure such data is stored domestically; and disallow reviews by authorities of potentially harmful software source codes. The USTR also withdrew support for non-discriminatory treatment of digital products, meaning a country wouldn’t be able to give less favorable treatment to software, apps or other tech products designed or created in another country.
