It’s Time to Come Together on Digital Trade

[Commentary] Digital trade between the US and the European Union is big business -- really big business. The US exported $140.6 billion worth of services to the EU alone in 2012 and over 70 percent of trade in services between the US and EU is delivered digitally. However, all this activity could come to a halt if swift action isn’t taken to retain and preserve these digital exports.

Currently, two issues stand in the way of restoring businesses as usual, the “Judicial Redress Act” (JRA) and US “Safe Harbor” status. We have until the end of January to build new pathways between the US and the EU before our current regulations expire and we cannot allow political gamesmanship to allow us to miss these critical deadlines. While the US and the EU have chosen different routes to protect individual privacy, both continue to study and create mechanisms to meet their citizen’s rightful expectations in privacy. Given the significant amount of digital trade between the US and EU, the two partners must keep in mind the privacy aspirations, and political realities, of each other. Simply put, neither trading partner can afford to “dictate” policies to the other, or ignore concerns that are based on thoughtful deliberation. Digital trade is simply too valuable to be put in the balance. Standing in the way of this valuable program does nothing to send a message, other than the fallacious message that transatlantic business does not matter. We call on the Department of Commerce to swiftly finalize Safe Harbor negotiations, and our Congressional representatives to facilitate these negotiations.