Finance Republicans say USTR ‘misled’ Congress on e-commerce; agency disputes

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative misled lawmakers about its plans to address digital trade rules in World Trade Organization talks on e-commerce, Senate Finance Committee ranking member Mike Crapo (R-ID) and eight other Republicans on the panel charged on Thursday, prompting strong denials from the agency. USTR on Wednesday announced in Geneva that it would withdraw its support for proposals on data flows, data localization and source code in the e-commerce joint statement initiative talks, outraging members of...