Technology is transforming global trade. The global trading system, however, has struggled to keep up with changes in technology. One of the major challenges for the trading system is that the issues raised by digitally enabled commerce are largely regulatory in nature. The issues that are at the forefront of digital trade increasingly relate to citizens’ most fundamental interactions, including speech, finance, energy, and transportation. This paper argues that resolving these international regulatory issues will require reforming the approach that has been taken to global trade negotiations. International discussions around the most challenging issues in the digital economy ought to move away from the ‘horse-trading’ nature of traditional trade negotiations and towards a strategy focused on regulatory cooperation. Failure to achieve regulatory cooperation could further fragment digital services based upon national borders. The Internet has the potential to positively impact the global economy precisely because it is global, decentralized, and bottom-up in nature. International policymaking through regulatory cooperation can maintain those principles, while protecting fundamental national concerns such as stability, privacy, and security.

中文翻译：

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数字贸易时代跨境监管合作的重要性

技术正在改变全球贸易。然而，全球贸易体系一直在努力跟上技术的变化。贸易系统面临的主要挑战之一是数字化商业引发的问题在很大程度上是监管性质的。处于数字贸易前沿的问题越来越多地涉及公民最基本的互动，包括言论、金融、能源和交通。本文认为，解决这些国际监管问题将需要改革全球贸易谈判所采用的方法。围绕数字经济中最具挑战性问题的国际讨论应该从传统贸易谈判的“马交易”性质转向以监管合作为重点的战略。未能实现监管合作可能会进一步分散基于国界的数字服务。互联网具有对全球经济产生积极影响的潜力，正是因为它具有全球性、分散性和自下而上的性质。通过监管合作制定国际政策可以维护这些原则，同时保护基本的国家问题，例如稳定性、隐私和安全。