The Digital Trade Imbalance and Its Implications for Internet Governance

Citation
Susan Ariel Aaronson, The Digital Trade Imbalance and Its Implications for Internet Governance (Global Commission on Internet Governance) (Paper Series: No. 25) (Feb. 2016) (full-text).

Overview
This paper examines how governments use trade agreements and policies to address cross-border Internet issues and to limit digital protectionism. The "digital trade imbalance" of the title refers to the imbalance between the United States' enthusiasm for and its major trade partners' ambivalence toward the creation of a system of trade rules to govern cross-border information flows. The imbalance also speaks to the divide over what is "protectionist" and what comprises a legitimate national policy. Because of such dissension, although trade agreements seem to be logical avenues for governing cross-border information flows, they might not be the best place to address these issues.

The paper concludes with several recommendations to government officials. Specifically, policy makers should encourage interoperability and the rule of law, define and challenge barriers to digital trade and do a better job of linking trade with other equally important objectives such as advancing digital rights.