Digital Trade and Globalization's Future

Digital trade, encompassing cross-border e-commerce, data flows, and digitally delivered services, has grown into a major component of the global economy, led by platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, and Shopify enabling even small firms to sell directly to consumers in other countries. The USMCA, concluded in 2018-2020, included one of the first comprehensive digital trade chapters in a major trade agreement, restricting data localization requirements and customs duties on electronic transmissions, while the WTO has maintained a moratorium on tariffs on electronic transmissions since 1998, repeatedly renewed but periodically contested by developing countries concerned about lost tariff revenue.