WTO Joint Statement Initiative: Conflicts Analysis and the Impact on Future Negotiations

Abstract

The increasing digitalization of economic activities has created new electronic commerce operations, and the development of digital trade has created new demands for international trade rules. However, these developments also generated trade conflicts and regulatory issues between countries in the world. In response to the new demands and the need to resolve conflicts and issues, many countries from the World Trade Organization (WTO) initiated a Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on e-commerce, aiming to achieve a consensus on e-commerce-related global trade topics. Due to the difference in economic development and policy concentration, the proposals from each signatory face economic, safety, and cultural value disputes. Developed economies are competing for a dominant position in the digital world to set the rules for e-commerce. Thus, a deep insight into the process of JSI negotiation and an analysis of several large debatable topics, such as cross-border data flow, market access, and intellectual property protection, need to be provided for future reference. Under such a situation, opportunities are also created for countries and enterprises to gain a competitive edge, and detailed future considerations can be explored as new topics for the signatories to include in the negotiation process in order to produce a comprehensive agreement.