R Street Institute

Policy Studies Federal Government Affairs

Digital Trade Rules for the 21st Century

by Clark Packard
April 6, 2020
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Key Points

After World War II, the United States showed enormous leadership and foresight in created the modern rules-based trading system.
Today’s global trading system works pretty well, but it has not kept pace with the times. As the nature of commerce changed because of the rise of the internet, the rules haven’t changed. New rules are needed to ensure that the system is meeting the needs and realities of the 21st century.
The United States should pursue a bold negotiating agenda in drafting new digital trade rules — one that aggressively tries to curb digital protectionism.

By pushing for new rules, grounded in a commitment to nondiscrimination and the free flow of goods and services, the United States is well positioned to replicate the type of indispensable leadership it showed in the creation of the rules-based trading system in the late 1940s, and to create a new frontier for commerce in the 21st century.

Press release: Trade in the Modern Age: Updating Digital Trade Rules for the 21st Century

Image credit:  Peshkova

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