Electronic Trade in the World Trade Organization - Difficulties in Negotiating an Agreement?

Abstract

The aim of the study is to present the premises that make it difficult to reach a multilateral agreement on electronic commerce in the World Trade Organization. Electronic commerce at the end of the second decade of the 21st century is an inseparable element of international trade, as a result of the digital revolution leading to lower costs when companies enter the global market. They often take into account the digital revolution of the state when creating new business models, especially in China, which has obtained the world's leading position in the field of digital services export. Increasing competition in the field of digital services, in the absence of regulations on electronic commerce in the WTO, will increase the interest of developed countries, including Australia, the United States, the European Union, Japan, African countries to solve the subject of e-commerce in regional integration agreements. The problems with reaching an agreement on electronic commerce in the WTO result not only from the specificity of trade in electronic form but from the general strategy of trade liberalization in other sectors.
Classification-JEL:
Keywords: International trade; electronic trade; e-commerce; World Trade Organization; digital economy