The Dawn of the e-WTO
by C-K Editor • January 27, 2019 • 0 Comments
By Sungjoon Cho
On the sidelines of the Davos World Economic Forum this week, seventy six WTO member countries agreed to launch a negotiation on electronic commerce. Yes, we all know that e-commerce has recently been skyrocketing, becoming part of our everyday lives. Meanwhile, the WTO has been criticized for having failed to provide effective multilateral rules to regulate e-commerce. I see a bit of déjà vu from the Uruguay Round here, in particular within the context of the North-South tension. Developed countries such as the United States, the European Union and Japan are spearheading this new initiative, while developing countries such as China and India seem to be lukewarm about the initiative. China joined the initiative with the reservation that developing countries’ concerns must be reflected. India argued that the Doha Development Round must be addressed before starting a new set of negotiations in the WTO. (more…)