U.S. Trade Policy Failing to Adapt to Digital Services Wave, Says Association

U.S. trade policy continues to lag behind Internet-related developments in global trade, and the U.S. should adjust its trade approach more for services as that sector grows at a quick pace, said the Computer and Communications Industry Association in comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. USTR asked for comments in mid-August to compile its annual report on foreign trade barriers. "The Internet has been the single biggest component of the cross border trade in services, with many of those services facilitating the international goods trade as well,” said CCIA in the comments released Wednesday night. “To protect U.S. economic interests, U.S. trade policy needs to prioritize addressing barriers to the Internet and Internet enabled services, given their key role in the U.S. economy and U.S. export growth.” Digital trade is inhibited by global Internet infrastructure mandates for local production, filtering and blocking of online material, and poor intellectual property protections, the CCIA said. Customs procedures and small shipment tariffs are also obstacles, said the association. Several lawmakers recently asked the USTR to work to ease cross-border data flows (see 1410280026).