ITI Highlights Need to Develop Concrete Digital Trade Commitments as Leaders from U.S., Japan, and Korea Meet
WASHINGTON – Ahead of U.S. President Biden’s visit to Korea and Japan, global tech trade association ITI encouraged the countries’ leaders to use the opportunity to advance digital trade priorities across the Indo-Pacific region, including through the ongoing development of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
“Digital trade is essential to economic growth and international commerce,” said ITI’s President and CEO Jason Oxman. “As U.S. President Biden prepares to meet with Korean President Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida, we encourage the leaders to move beyond high-level proclamations towards meaningful digital trade commitments across the Indo-Pacific region. These agreements should expand market access, align trade rules across regional and global frameworks, press for open cross-border data flows, and encourage diverse, open, and resilient supply chains. The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework demonstrates the U.S. desire to deepen economic engagement in the region, but the U.S. needs to take concrete steps to enhance economic prosperity for both the Indo-Pacific and the United States, including through digital trade agreements. We urge Korea and Japan to join the United States on making this endeavor a reality. ITI looks forward to partnering with governments to advance a robust digital trade agenda for this pivotal region.”
Ahead of President Biden’s summit, ITI developed the Trusted Digital Partnership Program (opens in a new tab)based on its recent comments (opens in a new tab) to the U.S. Department of Commerce and Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) regarding the IPEF. The program seeks to encourage investments by technology
companies and facilitate business partnerships by incentivizing partner economies to adopt digital trade-facilitative regulatory policies.
ITI also outlined the global tech industry’s Indo-Pacific digital trade policy priorities in a blog (opens in a new tab)in January 2022 and a letter (opens in a new tab) to USTR Katherine Tai in September 2021.
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