Brussels – In our report on digital trade barriers yesterday for USTR CCIA cited issues from Internet censorship and data transfers to fair use and copyright issues like Germany’s snippet tax. The push by Germany publishers to be able to charge search engines and others for displaying small amounts of text has been working its…
Washington — As the U.S. Trade Representative’s office prepares its annual report on trade barriers, the Computer & Communications Industry Association offered its input on digital trade issues. The US is the largest exporter of trade in services, $662 billion in 2013, and the Internet is the single biggest component of trade in cross-border services.…
CCIA Europe co-hosted a well-attended breakfast event today, September 23, on the EU’s engagement with China on digital trade issues. The occasion is next week’s EU-China High Level Economic Dialogue in Beijing which see senior EU participation by Commissioners Malmstrom, Oettinger and Katainen. Wednesday’s event also presented a new joint letter to the three Commissioners…
Brussels – The European Commission is set to present its new Trade Strategy this autumn and the removal of digital trade barriers is expected to feature prominently. As part of the strategy, the EU should seek to enable cross-border data flows, simplify customs and VAT rules, discourage forced data localisation and promote non-discriminatory access to networks.…
Washington — This week, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) introduced H.R. 2775, the Remote Transactions Parity Act (RTPA), the latest legislative incarnation to force online retailers to collect sales and use taxes regardless of physical presence. The RTPA takes the same basic approach as the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA). CCIA has long opposed such legislation as…
The House Judiciary Committee’s Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Subcommittee held a hearing on three bills Tuesday regarding nexus and taxation: the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act, the Digital Goods and Services Tax Fairness Act and the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act. In particular, as part of the Download Fairness Coalition (DFC),…
Washington – The Senate voted to approve Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) Saturday night; an important step both giving U.S. trade negotiators Congressional guidance on U.S. trade priorities and clearing the way to an up-or-down vote on future trade deals. The TPA legislation now must clear the House of Representatives. Securing a clean up-or-down vote on…
U.S. and the EU officials presented an ambitious shared agreement for cooperation on Internet policy at a well-attended stakeholder event hosted by CCIA in Brussels on April 14. CCIA warmly welcomes this statement which addresses many of our proposals to enhance trust and boost digital growth. We applaud the EU and U.S.’ shared commitment to…
Washington — Last week, the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA) was reintroduced in the Senate by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo) and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.). The bill, like its previous incarnations, would force online retailers to collect sales and use taxes regardless of physical presence. It would do…
