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Global E-Commerce Talks at the WTO: Positions on Selected Issues of the United States, European Union, China, and Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2021

Simon Abendin Open the ORCID record for Simon Abendin [Opens in a new window]  and
Pingfang Duan
Simon Abendin
Affiliation:
International Economics and Trade, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou450001, China
Pingfang Duan*
Affiliation:
International Economics and Trade, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou450001, China
*
*Email: dpfyx@163.com
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Abstract

There is a broad consensus that global electronic commerce needs the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade rules to govern it. The current mandate of the WTO is merely to examine the various trade-related aspects of e-commerce. Nevertheless, in recent years, some WTO members have put forward a proposal to begin negotiations for global e-commerce rules which was impeded due to the differing positions of developed and developing members. This paper examines the positions of the United States, the European Union, Japan, and China on the e-commerce multilateral rules negotiation issues. It then takes a look at the prospect of the WTO being able to reach an agreement on e-commerce. The analysis shows that the United States and the European Union have varying views on consumer privacy, information protection, and internet taxation. Although Japan sides with the United States on these issues and China is on the same page as the European Union regarding consumer privacy, China holds a different position from the United States and the European Union on the other two matters. China is not making commitments on data localization, free data flow, and forced transfer of source codes. Therefore, the outlook of the current e-commerce talks is not favorable for concluding WTO e-commerce agreements.

Keywords

E-commerce talksWTOUSEUJapanChina
Type
Original Article
Information
World Trade Review , Volume 20 , Issue 5 , December 2021 , pp. 707 - 724
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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