Amazon Points to Customs Simplification, New E-Commerce Markets as Reasons Behind Support for TPP

The Trans-Pacific Partnership would lead to new markets for e-commerce and improved customs processing, said Brian Huseman, vice president of public policy at Amazon, in a June 23 blog post (here). "That's why we support the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement and encourage Congress to approve it," he said. "The agreement makes important progress on areas such as business localization, cross-border data flows, intermediary liability and customs simplification." As Amazon grows, "we want reasonable policies that allow for the movement of goods across borders and that enable anyone in the world to have access to a unique and vast selection," he said. "We also want policies that do not unduly limit the growth of cloud computing by erecting digital trade barriers." Still, TPP is imperfect and the administration and Congress should work to improve provisions on cross-border data flows and copyright, he said.