WTO e-commerce work program chair: U.S. spurring data flows debate

A U.S. paper on the importance of cross-border data flows in the digital economy prompted World Trade Organization members to debate the benefits and disadvantages of a liberalized digital economy and the need to balance public policy objectives with e-commerce ambitions, a WTO official said this week. The U.S. submitted its paper at a June meeting of the WTO’s Work Program on Electronic Commerce, which is separate from the recently launched plurilateral Joint Statement Initiative on Electronic Commerce negotiations. The...