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Inaugural CIL-NUS Academy of International Trade

Megaregional Agreements and Digital Trade | Thomas Streinz

Thu 18–Fri 19 May 2023, 1.30–3.30pm Singapore Time

This specialization explores megaregional agreements through the lens of “megaregulation” and ventures a look into the future of international economic law when applied to digital data and artificial intelligence.

  1. Megaregulatory Agreements and Megaregionalism (May 18)

This class will discuss recent trends towards “megaregulatory” agreements and aspirations towards “megaregionalism”. We will compare and contrast the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in its reincarnation as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional and Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). We will use two recent theoretical accounts to analyze these agreements: Kingsbury et al claim that TPP/CPTPP instantiates “megaregulation” as a new form of inter-state economic ordering. Hsieh views RCEP through the lens of “new Asian regionalism”. We will conclude by asking how these frameworks can accommodate the United States’ push for an “Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity” (IPEF).

Questions to discuss:

  • How does the resurrected Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) differ from previous free trade agreements?
  • Is CPTPP engaged in “megaregulation”?
  • Can CPTPP foster trans-Pacific “megaregionalism”?
  • How does CPTPP relate to the Regional and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) concluded with its most important trading partners?
  • How to account for China’s participation in RCEP and its application to CPTPP?
  • To what extent is IPEF departing from CPTPP/megaregulation?

Required reading:

Background reading:

Primary materials:

  1. International Economic AI & Data Law (May 19)

The Uruguay round that culminated in the founding of the World Trade Organization (WTO) predates the global commercialization of Internet technology, the platformization of the digital economy, and recent advancements in artificial intelligence / machine learning. In this class, we will discuss how international economic law responds to these developments. Megaregulatory agreements like CPTPP have creates a new template of rules for the digital economy, including provisions designed to protect the “free flow” of personal data. More recent digital economy agreements, in particular the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement between Chile, Singapore, and New Zealand address an even broader range of issues, including AI governance.

Questions to discuss:

  • To what extent does existing WTO law govern the global digital economy?
  • What kind of rules on “electronic commerce” and “digital trade” are emerging?
  • How should data flow restrictions be regulated under international economic law?
  • How to conceptualize “AI” from the perspective of international economic law?
  • How do “digital economy agreements” differ from traditional trade agreements?

Required readings:

Background readings:

Primary materials:

  • CPTPP, Article 14.11
  • US-Japan Digital Trade Agreement, Article 11
  • EU template of horizontal provisions for cross-border data flows and for personal data protection in EU trade and investment agreements
  • RCEP, Article 12.15
  • DEPA (for reference)
  • WTO Joint Statement Initiative for electronic commerce (for reference)

Thomas Streinz is the Executive Director of Guarini Global Law & Tech, Adjunct Professor of Law, and Fellow at the Institute for International Law and Justice at New York University School of Law. He works on Internet governance, the regulation of the global data economy, and global law and technology. At NYU Law, he convenes the Guarini Colloquium: Regulating Global Digital Corporations (with Benedict Kingsbury and Joseph H. H. Weiler) and teaches courses on Global Data Law (with Angelina Fisher and Benedict Kingsbury) and Global Tech Law (with Benedict Kingsbury and David B. Stein). He is a co-editor of “Artificial Intelligence and International Economic Law: Disruption, Regulation, and Reconfiguration” (CUP 2021) and of “Megaregulation Contested: Global Economic Ordering After TPP” (OUP 2019).