Senate, House Leaders Press Froman on Cross-Border Data
Four senators want Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations to properly account for cross-border data flows. Any agreement “must include meaningful, clear obligations, enforceable through a strong and effective dispute settlement mechanism, that prohibit unnecessary limitations on the cross-border transfer, storage and processing…
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of data or the physical location of computing infrastructure,” said Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.; Commerce ranking member John Thune, R-S.D.; Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and Finance ranking member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in a joint letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman Friday (http://1.usa.gov/1wwGCeG). “We urge you to stand firm against efforts by other countries to seek reservations and overly broad exceptions that would undermine these obligations and provide lower levels of protection for trade in digital goods and services as compared to other areas of trade.” House Commerce Trade Subcommittee Chairman Lee Terry, R-Neb., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., sent a similar letter to Froman and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker Friday. “Trade agreements must acknowledge and support the growth of international trade through e-commerce, and cross-border data flows are the backbone of this growth,” the lawmakers said (http://1.usa.gov/1nCWMl5). “We urge you to secure enforceable commitments to free and open cross-border data flows around the world, for the sake of U.S. businesses and for a prosperous global economy.”