Blumenauer Opening Statement at Trade Subcommittee Hearing

(As prepared for delivery)

Good morning.  Thank you, Chairman Smith, for holding today’s hearing.  I also want to thank the Chairman’s team for planning and organizing today’s hearing—I know it’s been an incredibly demanding work period.  And I’d like to thank our panelists for joining us.

In the interest of time, I will briefly highlight a few topics we’ll hear about today.

Let me start by commending the Biden – Harris Administration for their leadership role in the recent extension of the WTO’s e-commerce moratorium.   The United States was instrumental in getting all WTO Members to agree to the extension—this was not an easy task.  The e-commerce moratorium supports U.S. business growth and is critical to our digital economy.  Extending the e-commerce moratorium was a big priority for the Ways and Means Committee. 

The digital economy is critically important to the United States.  According to the most recent data by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the gross value added of the digital economy was $2.6 trillion, or ten percent of U.S. GDP.  And from 2017 to 2022, the U.S. digital economy grew at 7.1 percent per year. 

The impressive growth of the digital economy has created new opportunities for workers, consumers, and businesses.  The digital economy has enabled entrepreneurs like Dr. Olivia Walch, one of our panelists, to start small businesses that operate globally. 

It has led to the introduction of new technologies and platforms that have helped to drive even more innovation, improve trade facilitation, further conservation efforts, and provide important access to telemedicine. Today, the digital economy touches most industries, small and large alike.

But while the digital economy has created new opportunities and transformed certain industries, it has also raised significant modern challenges. As Ambassador Tai has correctly noted, an increasingly digital and digitalized economy challenges every realm of our individual and collective experience and requires careful consideration in its regulatory approach.

On the one hand, we must create conditions for companies to innovate and yet on the other hand we must ensure the ability of governments to regulate the digital economy, especially with respect to personal data.

In this regard, I am looking forward to hearing from Eric Gottwald today about some of these challenges, both within the workplace – such as the surveillance of workers – and outside the workplace, such as the erosion of personal privacy.

Today we will also hear about the importance of a level-playing field for American companies competing abroad—that means, when necessary, taking strong enforcement action against digital trade policies that discriminate against our companies.  Enforcement is the key to a strong trade agenda.

Finally, I’ll close by noting that as policymakers we have an obligation to approach digital trade policy thoughtfully and deliberately.  We need to strike an appropriate balance between furthering the growth of the U.S. digital economy and responding to the needs of our citizens.  

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on these issues.  Thank you.

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