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digital economy | e-commerce

Ghana plans pilot digital trade corridor to support AfCFTA
21-May-2026 Ecofin Agency
Ghana plans pilot digital trade corridor supporting AfCFTA cross-border transactions. Rwanda and Zambia join interoperability tests for payments, IDs, and invoicing. Initiative targets costly delays hindering Africa’s growing digital trade market.
Ranked: Top 12 countries with digital trade agreements
20-May-2026 Visual Capitalist
Digital trade now powers a growing share of the global economy. It covers cross-border data flows, e-commerce, digital services, and online payments. As digital commerce expands, governments are moving quickly to set the rules that govern how it operates.
PH, UAE discuss AI, trade cooperation under Cepa
20-May-2026 Sun Star
Philippines and the UAE plan to strengthen strategic cooperation under the recently signed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) and align artificial intelligence initiatives tied to the US-led Pax Silica program.
EU’s tech sovereignty plan risks trade deal, warns US ambassador
19-May-2026 Euractiv
The US ambassador to the EU has warned the bloc against introducing “protectionist” rules ahead of incoming cloud and semiconductor laws – suggesting a planned tech sovereignty package could threaten the EU-US trade agreement.
Big Tech’s digital trade agenda is a danger for farmers and food systems
18-May-2026 GRAIN
Criticism against Big Tech’s digital crusade is growing, along with demands for greater regulation. Yet, through underhand tactics such as trade deals, tech companies are blocking reform.
Korea and ASEAN to strengthen supply chain cooperation... FTA digital rules to be revised
18-May-2026 The Asia Business Daily
South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-Koo and the ASEAN Committee agreed to broaden economic cooperation beyond conventional manufacturing into a wider array of sectors. Additionally, they committed to upgrading the 2007 Korea-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by integrating digital trade rules, targeting tangible results by 2027.
Chinese owner of Nexperia demands $8 billion from Netherlands over government takeover
12-May-2026 NL Times
Wingtech, the Chinese parent of the Nijmegen chipmaker Nexperia, said it will commence international arbitration proceedings against the Netherlands under the Netherlands-China investment treaty.
US and others propose e-commerce pact as WTO deadlock deepens
7-May-2026 Reuters
The US and a group of countries are planning to press ahead with their own moratorium on e-commerce duties ‌if Brazil and Turkey continue to oppose an extension of a global deal at World Trade Organization talks on Wednesday, a draft document shows.
National security implications in ISDS vis-à-vis AI regulation
4-May-2026 White & Case
Technological advances create novel security risks, prompting States to adopt national security measures that restrict foreign investors in this space.
Resisting Big Tech empires (and their trade rules)
30-Apr-2026 bilaterals.org
A clear message emerged from a recent conference: digital trade rules are entrenching Big Tech’s power grab over the digital economy. Those rules must be resisted.
The IP laws that stop disenshittification
29-Apr-2026 Jacobin
Laws included in trade deals protect US companies’ rent extraction schemes and stop us from fixing or improving our own devices — from phones and tractors to insulin pumps. Repealing them will save billions and hit Trump’s donor class.
AfCFTA: Digital trade protocol and annexes (Jun 2025)
22-Apr-2026 AfCFTA Secretariat
China signal push to upgrade Switzerland FTA, expanding trade to services, digital sectors
21-Apr-2026 Investinglive
China pushes to upgrade Switzerland trade deal, expanding ties into services and digital economy.
How India’s new free trade agreement with the EU limits AI governance
20-Apr-2026 Tech Policy
The India–EU FTA’s formulation of source‑code and algorithmic provisions appears to narrow India’s policy authority, as it shifts the balance towards post‑incident enforcement and away from proactive oversight, at a time when India’s scale and diversity require the opposite.
‘Expect more pressure’: How the Trump administration is bullying the world on behalf of big tech
10-Apr-2026 Crikey
At least ten countries signed off deals or frameworks designed to benefit American tech companies in 2025.
The e-commerce plurilateral reveals the backdoor strategy to adopt JSIs
8-Apr-2026
Arguably, the most significant outcome from the World Trade Organization’s “reform” ministerial conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon in March 2026 was the adoption by a sub-group of 66 Members of a plurilateral agreement on electronic commerce.
Africa’s digital trade push requires 700 data centres, says AfCFTA chief
8-Apr-2026 Punch
Africa will need more than 700 data centres to support the digital trade architecture envisioned under the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene said.
UK and Ghana collaborate to build pioneering Neofingo digital trade finance corridor
4-Apr-2026 Joy Online
ODI Global, in partnership with government’s 24-Hour Economy Authority, the AfCFTA Secretariat, has announced the development of a network and protocol called Neofingo at a forum held simultaneously in London and Accra.
One year of Trump tariffs prove corporate profits always came before the public interest
3-Apr-2026 Common Dreams
The 2026 NTE Report makes it clear that the Trump administration’s primary motivation behind its trade policy is to protect the profits of big US companies.
Comparing the digital trade provisions in the new US trade deals
3-Apr-2026 International Economic Law and Policy Blog
Focus on certain digital trade provisions in the nine agreements for which we now have the full legal text.