Tucked into President Donald Trump’s trade deals formalizing higher tariffs on goods from Asia this week are provisions for a global economic frontier the US wants to stay free of protectionism: digital commerce.
In deals with Malaysia and Cambodia, and a more preliminary agreement with Thailand, the White House received assurances none will impose digital services taxes or discriminate against American providers of e-commerce, social media, streaming, cloud storage or other types of online services. Those activities count as digital trade when the transactions cross national borders.