Washington, D.C. – The U.S. government announced the conclusion of new trade agreements with Cambodia and Malaysia on Sunday, alongside frameworks for agreements with Thailand and Vietnam. The digital trade provisions with Cambodia and Malaysia include prohibitions on discriminatory digital services taxes, commitments to facilitate cross-border digital trade with the United States, including through free data flows and cybersecurity cooperation. It also includes bans on forced technology or source code transfer as a condition of market access, and support for making permanent the WTO moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions.
Thailand and Vietnam agreed to frameworks for addressing similar issues, the finalization of which is pending.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has advocated for free trade for more than 50 years.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Vice President of Digital Trade, Jonathan McHale:
“We commend the Administration for finalizing two trade agreements, including, for the first time in six years, substantive provisions of digital trade. Instituting commitments with Cambodia and Malaysia that ensure that U.S. firms offering digital products and services will not face discrimination, including in the form of digital service taxes or forced sharing of proprietary technology, is a significant achievement. As the administration looks to finalizing agreements with much more challenging markets, including Indonesia, Vietnam, and Korea, we look to the Administration to expand such commitments to address the broader landscape of barriers, documented here (Indonesia), here (Vietnam), and here (Korea).”
