• Susan AARONSON, Research Professor & Director, Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub, Elliott School of International Affairs (The George Washington University)
• Zennon KAPRON, Founder and Director (Kapronasia)
• Patrick LEBLOND, CN-Paul M. Tellier Chair on Business and Public Policy, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (University of Ottawa)
• Moderated by: Sourabh GUPTA, Senior Fellow & Head of Trade 'n Technology Program, Institute for China-America Studies
• Welcome Remarks by: Nong HONG, Executive Director, Institute for China-America Studies

IPEF negotiators are known to be eyeing a partial accord by late-May when their trade ministers meet on the sidelines of the APEC Ministerial meeting in Detroit. Digital trade rules are an important component of the IPEF negotiations. President Biden’s U.S. Trade Representative says she is committed to building trust and promoting confidence in the digital economy, while recognizing the need to address legitimate public policy objectives in the digital trade area. The deference to policy space is a bow to the dynamic and fast-changing pace of regulation in the digital sphere—be in terms of anti-monopoly protections, privacy and data protections, fintech-related financial stability risk management, review of liability protection for intermediary service providers, development of rules for artificial intelligence (AI) applications or requiring the transparency of the structure, use, and impacts of algorithmic systems. On the other side of the Pacific meantime, an accession working group has been formed to consider China’s application to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA).

What is the state of play on IPEF’s digital trade text as well as China’s DEPA accession talks? What are the commercial and regulatory challenges encountered by private businesses as they navigate their way within the Asia-Pacific region’s dynamic digital marketplace? What are the key challenges facing the governance of cross-border data flows at the global level? And how do digital economy chapters and agreements differ in their focus and impact from traditional trade agreements? To listen to these and other answers to pressing digital trade and IPEF-related questions, tune in to the event on May 10.