[RAY BOGAN]

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is opening an investigation into the U.S. Trade Representative’s office in an effort to discover how much influence outside organizations may have had on its October decision to abandon digital trade principles the United States first put forward in 2019. At the time, Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the decision would give Congress more ability to regulate big tech. 

But first you may be wondering – how do digital trade principles affect me? Good question. Digital trade is part of our daily life. Buying something on Amazon? That’s digital trade. Did someone email you a document to e-sign? That’s digital trade. Trying to buy Eras tour tickets for the shows in Madrid? That’s international digital trade. 

So the rules and principles that governments create to regulate digital trade impact how your information is sent and stored. 

But back to the investigation – in a letter to Tai, Comer wrote, “new documents brought forward through a Freedom of Information Act request shed light on robust and sometimes clandestine engagement efforts made by USTR officials through their cozy relationships with former colleagues who work as ideological advocates outside of government. Some of these individuals are associated with efforts to advance the interests of favored businesses over competitors and consumer welfare.”

The trade principles were first proposed by the Trump administration in 2019 and had strong bipartisan support. In fact, similar provisions were included in the USMCA trade agreement which Congress approved in January 2020. 

When the decision was made in October, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the decision was made with, “virtually zero consultation with Congress.” 

[Ron Wyden]

“USTR’s unilateral decision to abandon any leverage against China’s digital expansionism, and to oppose policies championed by allies like Australia, Japan, the U.K. and Korea, directly contradicts its mission as delegated by Congress. It may be time to reconsider the degree of that delegation going forward,” Wyden said in a statement. 

[RAY BOGAN]

In January, nearly 50 members of Congress wrote to Tai, FTC Chair Lina Kahn and Assistant Attorney General Jonathon Kanter and said, “It is shocking that USTR’s political leadership has chosen to retract its backing for long-standing, bipartisan core trade values that safeguard against compelled technology transfers, data localization, source code disclosure and further discriminatory trade practices.”

Although Tai’s decision did receive support from 87 House Democrats. 

[Rep. Rosa DeLauro]

“Ambassador Tai reasserted our rights to limit the flow of Americans’ data to such countries by withdrawing U.S. support for Trump-era WTO proposals that granted data brokers and digital platforms all but total control of Americans’ data,” the group led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said.  

[RAY BOGAN]

But Concern about the USTR’s lack of consultation with Congress goes back to May of 2022 when a bipartisan group of Senators led by Wyden wrote to Ambassador Tai accused the USTR of not living up to its own standards when negotiating a deal with the World Trade Organization on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights.  

“There is no dispute that Congress has every right to be involved in the negotiation process.” They accused the USTR of not living up to its own standards,” the senators told Tai.  

Now Comer wants the trade representative’s office to hand over communications on the messaging app Signal or other non-official communications channels, all correspondence between USTR employees and individuals at certain NGOs including New America, Public Citizen and Center for Digital Democracy, and memos, notes and other internal communications related to digital trade negotiations. 

Comer wants the documents by March 18.