Inside US Trade, November 11, 2020

By Maria Curi

The coronavirus pandemic has made removing barriers to digital trade all the more urgent, technology groups have told the Office of the US Trade Representative. The groups recently submitted comments meant to inform USTR’s “National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers.” The report, released each spring, identifies significant barriers to U.S. exports of goods and services.

BSA | The Software Alliance, the Internet Association, the App Association, the Computer and Communications Industry Association and CSI have long pushed to promote cross-border data flows and prohibit data localization policies. In their submissions this year they flagged problematic data localization efforts in China’s draft 2017 Critical Information Infrastructure Protection regulations, India’s 2018 Directive on Storage of Payment System Data, South Korea’s Cloud Security Assurance Program, proposed regulations in Indonesia and Vietnam’s 2018 Cybersecurity Law.

“The efforts of the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) to support open markets and combat trade barriers are critical to supporting global economic response and recovery to COVID-19,” BSA | The Software Alliance said in its submission. “The World Trade Organization (WTO) has reported that some 80 countries have imposed export and other trade restrictions in reaction to the COVID-19 epidemic, in addition to a growing number of digital trade barriers that impact the movement of information across borders. Such trade barriers and cross-border data transfer restrictions impede the ability of populations to comply with social distancing mandates, reduce the spread of disease, and remain economically productive.”

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Original Posting: https://insidetrade.com/daily-news/tech-groups-ustr-pandemic-underscores-need-lift-digital-trade-barriers