Importance of Technology in cross-border trade

Abstract

International trade agreements, particularly The World Trade Organization (WTO hereinafter) are Multilateral Agreements, together with their Annexes that provide the common institutional framework for the conduct of trade among its Members in accordance to their commitments . Besides are Regional Integration Agreements (RIA), Free Trade Areas (FTAs), Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), Regional Trade Agreements (RTA), MIT etc., that play an important role in the creation of a secure, predictable and trustworthy global regulatory framework for trade. For the purpose of this research focus is on digital trade or trade in services which is provided for by General Agreement on Trade in Services , Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights and other related International Trade Instruments. Nonetheless, WTO is not at the same pace in responding to the various challenges arising from the integration of digital trade into cross-border trade. This slow response seems to be largely attributable to the complex, multifaceted nature of digital trade and/or electronic commerce, advent of new technologies, coupled with the conflict on issues of Internet regulation and different levels of digital development among countries among others. The necessity to cover the gap therefore stimulates researchers to conduct appropriate study to ascertain the needed legal reforms in supporting the growth of the digital economy to meet the technological challenges of new barriers to trade. Therefore this thesis focuses on the limitations of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS hereinafter) and Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS hereinafter) in opening the digital sector, eliminating new types of barriers to digital trade such as data localization, as well as addressing "new" regulatory issues pertaining to international digital trade such as limitation to cross-border data flows, strict data protection, data security issues and violations of Intellectual Property Rights in data related field specifically copyright and service marks. Furthermore, the immerging Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs hereinafter), increase the possibility of a potential disharmony between PTA rules and the GATS, since they seem to be more dynamic than the said multilateral treaties. The rules on digital trade are diverse and often conflict across different countries and PTAs, and in the long run, this disharmony disrupts the efforts of the global legal framework in enhancing digital trade hence the need to revisit the relevant legal provisions. In the researchers' view, WTO law should take a central role in facilitating a secure and stable legal regulatory environment for cross-border digital trade while identifying and removing the current increase in new trade barriers. To address the above gaps in the GATS the author recommends for extensive reforms within the existing Multilateral framework rather than simply relying on WTO tribunals in interpreting existing rules. Three areas of reform are necessary to promote the digital economy, thus improving market access, addressing regulatory barriers in digital trade such as data localization, and supporting developing countries to integrate faster into the digital economy specifically in Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Then, we suggested that WTO will engage Institutions dealing with digital trade and Internet governance, including multi stakeholder institutions to contribute to the formation of a coherent framework for digital trade. It is against this background that the writer will try to analyze the extent of the problem taking China as a case study to show how state laws may be used to delay access to technology, prevent competition, discriminate against foreign investors and retard liberalization strategies meant by the said multilateral instruments like GATS. The research discussed the way forward especially coping up with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence