<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 1.5pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 19.5pt; background-color: white;"><b class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" class="">Rep. Schakowsky: Don’t let ‘Big Tech’ use trade rules to stymie regulation<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Inside US Trade, 1/10/24<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The Biden administration was right to pull its support of certain digital trade provisions that could hinder efforts to regulate “Big Tech” companies, including key data privacy legislation being considered in Congress, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) said on Wednesday.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Schakowsky, ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce innovation, data and commerce subcommittee, said during a press briefing organized by Rethink Trade that the American Data Privacy and Protection Act was approved by the full Energy and Commerce Committee with bipartisan support.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">“But Big Tech has other ideas when it comes to international work,” she said, arguing that the digital trade rules such companies are pushing for would threaten nascent congressional efforts such as ADPPA as well as the administration’s antitrust and anti-monopoly work.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Rethink Trade is an initiative of the anti-monopoly group American Economic Liberties Project.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Schakowsky praised the move by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative last year to withdraw U.S. support from proposals on data flows, data localization, source code and nondiscrimination in the plurilateral World Trade Organization negotiations on e-commerce. The U.S. had previously suspended talks on those issues in its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. The agency cited a need for “policy space” to allow domestic debates on the issues to play out.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">USTR Katherine Tai, Schakowsky added, has been an “advocate” for consumer rights, including privacy.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Other progressive lawmakers – notably, Senate Finance Committee member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) – also have praised the USTR decision, as have civil society groups and some smaller business coalitions.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">However, the move has drawn strong opposition from large business groups and some members of Congress, including Finance leaders Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mike Crapo (R-ID). They argue that such rules are integral to how businesses operate and say the U.S. is creating a leadership vacuum on digital trade that will be filled by China.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">But it’s false to suggest that all businesses oppose the decision, Amanda Lewis, co-founder of the Responsible Online Commerce Coalition, said during the same briefing. Lewis noted that members of ROCC rely on Amazon or other large e-commerce platforms for their businesses and, accordingly, support provisions that would enforce “fair play.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">The language the U.S. withdrew its support for at the WTO “risks serving the interests of the Big Tech monopolists at the detriment of everyone else,” she argued.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">She and Yelp Vice President of Public Policy David Segal cited in particular the provision on nondiscrimination that had been proposed at the WTO during the previous administration. The proposed language was aimed at protecting the largest technology companies rather than at true nondiscrimination, Segal argued. Provisions that prevent protectionist measures are good, he added, but it should not end up applying to neutral laws targeting the largest platforms – most of which happen to be U.S.-based – as the WTO proposal would have.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Lewis cited the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, which applies additional scrutiny and rules to companies designated “gatekeepers,” which <a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/177798" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">so far include</span></a> U.S. companies Meta, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet (Google) as well as China-based ByteDance. The nondiscrimination provision would have been “a real threat” to the DMA, she said.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Asked about what the next steps for the administration should be, Lewis argued that any future language or position on this front should be signed off on by the heads of the Justice Department’s antitrust division and the Federal Trade Commission, which deals with antitrust law.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">“I think I am cautiously optimistic that the right people are in the room and weighing in,” she added.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Rethink Trade Director Lori Wallach pointed to <a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/178594" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Tai’s remarks at the Aspen Security Forum last month</span></a>, when the USTR said it would be “malpractice” for her agency to get out ahead of Congress or other domestic efforts on this issue.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">“She’s gotten a lot of credit in Congress for not doing what some other USTRs have done” by imposing policy decisions on the U.S. via trade agreements, Wallach contended.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Participants in the plurilateral WTO e-commerce initiative announced the “<a href="https://insidetrade.com/node/178722" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">substantial conclusion” of the talks</span></a> last month. Even if the U.S. had not withdrawn support from proposals on data localization, data flows, source code and nondiscrimination, those proposals were not close to consensus among the participants, several trade officials in Geneva have previously told <em class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Inside U.S. Trade</span></em>.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div style="margin: 0in; background-color: white; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">Wallach noted that the U.S. and other WTO members could choose to revisit these issues in Geneva at a later date after more direction from Congress or other U.S. agencies, calling it “likely an issue of sequencing.” -- <em class=""><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">Hannah Monicken</span></em> (<a href="mailto:hmonicken@iwpnews.com" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;" class="">hmonicken@iwpnews.com</span></a>)<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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