[CTC] Tai says digital trade move avoided "policy suicide"

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Tai says digital trade move avoided "policy suicide"
POLITICO PRO
BY DOUG PALMER | 12/07/2023 01:26 PM EST 
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai provided her strongest public defense yet of her controversial decision to withdraw U.S. support for key digital trade positions in talks at the World Trade Organization.

In remarks Thursday at the Aspen Security Forum, Tai argued that the real issue was whether the private sector or the government gets "to decide or control how freely the data can flow and when it can be restricted, where it needs to be stored and when access is required to disclose source code."

She argued that advances in technology over the past five years, including the recent leap forward in the area of artificial intelligence, required the government to stop and reassess its support for the positions in question.

"I think that those issues are very much consequential, not just for trade and economics, but for our entire society," Tai said. "If we're going to lead using trade tools, at a time when there is no consensus, but massive amounts of debate and questioning, then I as USTR am committing massive malpractice and probably committing policy suicide by getting out ahead of all of the other conversations and decisions that we need to make as a country."

Tai's decision to withdraw support for positions supporting the free flow of data across borders and prohibiting rules that force companies to store their data locally or to transfer their computer source code has won praise from Sen. Elizabeth Warren <https://directory.politicopro.com/member/140963?source=email> (D-Mass.) and other progressive Democrats who worry that including such provisions in trade deals could restrict Congress' ability to legislate in that area.

However, it has drawn criticism from many other lawmakers and business groups, who say USTR's move will hurt U.S. competitiveness and allow China and Russia to lead the way in crafting more harmful digital trade rules.


Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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