February 25, 2025, 11:00-12:00 CST
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Michèle Rioux is Full Professor, International Political Economy, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and member of the Royal Society of Canada. She is co-director of the Center for Research on Integration and Globalisation. A specialist in international political economy, her research focuses on international organizations and global governance, transnational firms, competition, the information society and the telecommunications sector, economic integration and regionalism, e-commerce, digital technology, and cultural industries. She currently leads a research team on North America in a Context of Great Tensions. Dr. Rioux holds a Doctorate in Political Science from UQAM, a Master’s from McGill University, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Glendon College, York University.
Gilbert Gagné is Full Professor, International Relations, Bishop’s University and director of the Research Group on Continental Integration at UQAM. In 2007-2008, he received a Canada-U.S. Fulbright Award and held the Visiting Research Chair in Canadian Studies at Duke University. A specialist in international trade law and regional economic integration, his research mainly focuses on the trade and culture debate and the impact of trade agreements on states’ ability to pursue cultural policies. Dr. Gagné holds a Doctorate in International Relations from the University of Oxford and Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees in Political Science from the University of Ottawa.
Together, they co-edited NAFTA 2.0: From the first NAFTA to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, published in early 2022, which includes a jointly authored chapter on digital trade in North America.
Speaker presentation
Digital trade and the future of USMCA – Competition, security and regulatory issues
This presentation will discuss the innovations of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the domain of digital trade, as well as the current context and likely future for digital trade in North America. Given the dominance of its Internet firms, the United States has major political and economic motives to push for the absence of restrictions in digital trade. In view of its weight vis-à-vis particular trade partners, the United States has been able over successive negotiations to further e-commerce rules and standards. The USMCA is the comprehensive trade agreement that goes furthest in liberalizing digital trade, notably with provisions to ensure that personal data and information may be transferred across borders and that limits on data storage and processing are kept to a minimum. Since 2017, plurilateral discussions on electronic commerce have been revived within the WTO, the United States favored venue. Yet, as divergences on this subject remain among WTO members, the PTA path is still the one most likely to enable the United States to achieve its objectives as regards trade in digital products.
The presentation will also discuss the developing and controversial security, competition and regulatory issues in North America and the global economy. It will argue that the US trade agenda will be a challenge for the North American region and beyond, including in issues of digital trade.