WASHINGTON—Robert D. Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a leading tech policy think tank, today testified that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement represents the best opportunity to establish high-standard rules that will permit digital trade—the lifeblood of the modern global economy—to flourish to the maximum extent possible. Furthermore, the United States should view this agreement as a building block toward stronger and more comprehensive rules for digital trade and data flows in future pacts, including the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP).
In testimony before the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, Atkinson argued, “Data is increasingly the driving force of innovation and growth in the modern global economy. This isn’t just about tech companies, though. Cross-border data flows are critical for a wide array of industries, from manufacturing to mining, and retail to financial services.”
He continued, “The ability to easily share data across borders creates significant benefits for workers, consumers, companies, and economies. Unfortunately, dozens of countries—both developed and developing alike—have erected a wide slate of barriers to digital trade. If the TPP is not adopted, we will have lost a significant opportunity to put an affirmative stake in the ground demonstrating that localization barriers to digital trade are unacceptable.”
In his testimony, Atkinson explained that while nations proffer three main justifications for these barriers—privacy and security concerns, national security and law enforcement concerns, and aspirations for domestic economic growth—none of these justifications validate digital trade barriers.
Atkinson argues that the TPP’s e-commerce chapter takes a number of positive steps in pushing back against barriers to digital trade. He notes, however, that how effective these rules will be in removing existing barriers to digital trade—and preventing more in the future—depends in part on how TPP members interpret, enact, and enforce them, especially the exceptions to each provision. He urged U.S. policymakers to approve TPP, focus on TiSA and T-TIP, and then look beyond them, including to championing a “Data Services Agreement” at the World Trade Organization and strengthening the U.S. mutual legal assistance treaty system.
“Implementing a strong TPP and establishing other high-standard agreements will help ensure that U.S. enterprises, many of which have pioneered the Internet and other digital technologies, can enjoy more open access to partners’ markets and be able to seamlessly move data across international borders,” Atkinson concluded. “Companies are using data in innovative ways to create new value for the global economy. Policymakers must be equally visionary in shaping rules that protect citizens’ rights to privacy without unduly encumbering data’s catalytic potential to spur more innovation. America’s ability to grow its economy and create new jobs will depend on it.”
Read written testimony.
