Started the Digital Trade Wars Have: Delineating the Regulatory Battlegrounds

Abstract

The digital transformation has facilitated old modes of trade and business models and enabled the creation of entirely new ones. In this note, we suggest a classification of the modes in which trade is conducted as it progressively shifts into the digital or digitally-facilitated realm; review the list of areas where trade resistance has been encountered and how these are addressed in trade agreements; and contrast the tactics of the major players as revealed in their framing of regulations for digital and digitally-enabled trade in the regional trade agreements in which they are engaged. Finally, we consider the prospects for a WTO-brokered digital trade agreement to resolve the conflicts that are brewing in a context conducive to strategic trade policy, with agreed rules of the road and opportunity for inclusive growth in the knowledge-based and data-driven economy that the digital transformation is midwifing into being.

Keywords: Digital trade, digitally-enabled trade, modes of trade, regional trade agreements, e-commerce

JEL Classification: F13, F15, F61, F68, K21, K24