White Paper Trade Rules and the Digital Economy Key Points and Findings

Chapter Six | Findings and Conclusions
1 Huawei’s thought leadership is timely
Even before the fate of the TPP became questionable, the timeliness of the present White Paper was never
in any doubt. Trade rules specifically designed for the digital economy have been taking shape since 1998
(the year of the WTO’s Work Program on Electronic Commerce). But it has only been in the last six years
or so that regulatory interventions by policymakers outside of the United States have seen internet
companies mobilize in an effort to directly bring about a set of targeted negotiated outcomes on issues
such as the free flow of information, data localization and mandatory disclosure of source code. These
efforts although stalled in for a such as the TPP and TiSA, are nevertheless likely to come to fruition at some
point in the next few years, perhaps at the WTO, or in RCEP, or in the context of future bilateral agreements.
The consensus on where the balance lies between internet freedom and regulatory autonomy now seems
to be up for grabs all over again.
2 The new trade rules will impact Huawei’s interests
Ever since before the conclusion of the Information Technology Agreement (1997) and the elucidation of
the above‐mentioned WTO Work Program on Electronic Commerce (1998), and particularly as negotiations
began in earnest on the TPP (starting in 2010), the global ICT industry and internet companies have been
working hard to achieve binding and enforceable trade rules that would maximize the industry’s freedom
of action, underpin transparency and predictability, and reduce both trade barriers and trade costs for
them. These efforts have culminated in a number of early successes (the ITA itself), and ongoing trade and
investment liberalization in the form of various FTAs. As part of the global ICT industry and as a company
that does business in some 170 countries, Huawei’s interests are of course affected in positive ways by
these developments. But the enactment of new rules which have the potential to alter the underlying
environmental conditions in which the global ICT industry operates must be carefully studied by a company
the size of Huawei. Our White Paper on the new trade rules being negotiated for the digital economy has
made an initial attempt to do just that. We have found for example, that our Carrier Network business is
likely to benefit from further tariff reduction or zero‐duty commitments negotiated and being
implemented now under the ITA Expansion initiative at the WTO. We also predict that negotiations on nontariff
barriers being contemplated as part of the ITA Expansion work could be of great benefit to us in future,
particularly on issues like conformity assessment procedures and electromagnetic compatibility.
3 Huawei should be part of the conversation
Because we at Huawei operate across such a broad swathe of the digital economy and are now an
undisputed industry leader in network equipment and devices, we need to make our voice heard, either
directly or indirectly, loudly or softly, but we should not remain silent. This is even more so the case now
that leadership on the negotiation of mega‐regional trade negotiations has shifted from the TPP to RCEP.
As a Chinese multinational, Huawei is uniquely placed to contribute to the conversation in the next few
years. Our White Paper represents a first milestone in this direction. The previous set of initiatives launched
in an effort to write new rules for the digital economy (TPP, TiSA, and TTIP) was to a very large extent
influenced by a narrow set of industry players and government actors. With the finalization and ratification
of these initiatives now in doubt, this represents a unique moment in history for other voices to be heard
and to become part of the conversation. Even if our views and perspectives may not differ radically from
those expressed by other actors in the digital economy, it is still important that our voice be heard.
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