The change in the US position is expected to be a setback for the ongoing efforts of JSI members, which include several developed nations like the European Union, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and Canada.
These members had been advocating for the implementation of global e-commerce regulations at the WTO's 13th Ministerial Conference in February 2024.
According to an analysis by GTRI, given that China and India are significant data generators, and China has already established measures to safeguard its data, India prefers to maintain flexibility in sharing data with some of the domestic companies instead of multinational tech giants.
The US is reportedly reconsidering its approach to trade regulations in sensitive areas such as data and source code, aiming to strike a balance between the right to regulate in the public interest and addressing anti-competitive conduct in the digital economy.