Energy technologies are ‘the combination of hardware, techniques, skills, methods and processes’ involved in ‘producing, transforming, storing, transporting and using energy’. The IEA database captures over 500 mature and immature ‘clean energy’ technologies worldwide that contribute to achieving the goal of net-zero emissions. This chapter will show that international economic law is applicable to government interventions in even the early stages of technology development. For example, State-imposed R&D investment obligations may be banned by IIA provisions on performance requirements, and public incentives for R&D may be disciplined by WTO subsidy rules. Once commercialized, green technologies can reach foreign markets due to international trade and technology transfers that fall within the scope of international economic rules. Reducing trade barriers to environmental goods and services could give a further boost to the international movement of energy-related green technologies. While the importance of green technology transfers between countries is widely recognized, trade and investment rules must be consulted when imposing technology transfer measures.

The chapter builds on the author’s article titled ‘Gender-Inclusive Governance for E-Commerce’, which broke new ground by examining electronic commerce (e-commerce) from a gender perspective, and the proposal for a provision on gender equality in services domestic regulation (services DR). Since then, both the provision and the policy landscape have developed. The provision was included in the negotiations on services DR that concluded on 2 December 2021 among the sixty-seven World Trade Organization (WTO) members participating in the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on Services Domestic Regulation. The chapter aims to meet the moment with a restatement of the framework that the article proposed, using original and new analysis by including the concluded text. The chapter generates new knowledge that is actionable for policymakers and stakeholders by responding to three questions: What is gender-inclusive governance? What is the relationship between gender divides, e-commerce, digital trade, and trade in services? What policy interventions are necessary, and why, to meet the moment? The goal is to discuss ways to attain gender-inclusive governance for trade policy at this unique time for implementing changes that are fit for the digital age. The chapter argues that multi-level dedicated gender-inclusive governance can contribute to closing the gender gap.

This chapter assesses the compatibility of capital controls and other CFMs with the multilateral trade framework; that is, the WTO’s GATS. The GATS contains several provisions that relate to controls and restrictions on services in general, and to financial services in particular. This chapter begins by setting out the framework for obligations in the GATS relevant to cross-border capital movements before explaining and evaluating the relevant exceptions. While the exceptions should in theory allow capital controls to be put in place in a manner that is consistent with the GATS, each of the exceptions contain uncertainties which, depending on how they are interpreted, could mean capital controls would fall outside the scope of the exceptions. Recent jurisprudence, however, should provide some comfort to governments seeking to make use of exceptions in the financial services sector, namely the so-called prudential exception. In this regard, the GATS should not be viewed as a major impediment to the implementation of CFMs implemented in good faith and for prudential reasons.

Much has changed since CompuServe introduced its “Electronic Mall” as the first major retail e-commerce platform in 1984. Digital technologies have driven down costs and improved access and opportunities for producers and consumers, manufacturers and farmers, and above all, users. Digital technologies have transformed how a large part of the global economy operates. A broad range of goods are now digital and thereby intangible, being made up of bytes. Likewise, many services that previously required costly face-to-face contact between the firm and consumer are now available remotely.

Technology has opened international trade – in the form of e-commerce – to a broad range of firms and sectors that beforehand would have been the sole domain of larger multinational companies. Most importantly, technology and the Internet reduced the transaction costs and information asymmetries associated with international trade. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter and search engines like Google and Bing give large and small businesses alike easy ways to advertise services to people around the world.

The global economy is in the midst of the Services Revolution, which is having as dramatic an effect on our work life and daily life as the Industrial Revolution 100–150 years ago. Services make the world go around, for consumers, businesses, and governments.

Just think of your daily routine. First thing in the morning, you wake up knowing that your family was safe because of the electronic security service that was monitoring everything while you slept, from the locks on your doors to the carbon monoxide in the garage. Then you probably check your e-mail, the football or cricket results, and the headlines from the Financial Times on your smartphone service. If you drive to work, you require car insurance; if you take the subway or bus, life insurance. On the way to the office, you stop at your favorite coffee bar for your breakfast. At the office, you put the box of that birthday tie return in the express delivery pick-up box. A quick check online of your bank balance. Then you place calls to everyone who left you voicemails overnight, using one of the international telecommunications services.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), originally intended to cover 12 Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam), was arguably the largest and most economically significant regional trade agreement (RTA) ever concluded. Together, the original TPP signatories accounted for about 26% of world trade and 36% of world GDP. In early 2017, the United States withdrew from the TPP on the direction of the then-newly elected US President, Donald J. Trump, casting the agreement’s future into uncertainty.

This chapter conducts an analysis of the GATS disciplines and their applicability to digital services trade. The reader is thereby provided with an overview of the relevant GATS obligations and how they apply to the supply of digital services. The distinction between the GATS’ general obligations and its obligations subject to specific commitments is explained and the implications for digital services trade elaborated upon. The chapter also sets out how the digital supply of services that can also be supplied offline impacts the likeness analysis in various GATS obligations. The most relevant obligations for digital services trade are the most-favoured nation treatment obligation, the market access obligation and the national treatment obligation. The chapter discusses the potential overlap between the latter two obligations and how to interpret WTO Members’ Services Schedules to understand their commitments. The chapter additionally addresses the applicability of the Annex on Telecommunications, the Reference Paper on Basic Telecommunications and the Understanding on Commitments in Financial Services to digital services trade. Finally, the chapter discusses the justification grounds in the GATS and how they relate to digital services.

This chapter elaborates on the relationship between digital services and the GATS. First, the characteristics of the GATS are explained, including the recognised four modes to supply services, the specific commitments WTO Members have included in their Services Schedules and how this impacts the Members’ obligations under this agreement. Digital services are not explicitly referred to in the GATS, but through an analysis of the scope of the GATS, this chapter explains why measures that affect digital services trade are covered by the GATS. Moreover, electronic delivery of services fits within the four modes of supply as recognised within the GATS. The chapter also elaborates on the principle of technological neutrality and how it applies to the GATS. Finally, the chapter discusses the work that has been undertaken by WTO Members in the context of the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, which was established in 1998. The lack of substantive progress in the context of this Work Programme illustrates the divergent positions of WTO Members on digital issues.

This chapter analyses the consistency of the barriers to services trade that were identified in Chapter 3 with the GATS obligations as elaborated upon in Chapter 6. First, the chapter addresses restrictions to cross-border data flows, using two case studies: Russia’s amended Law on Personal Data and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. Second, the barrier of web filtering and content control is assessed under the applicable GATS obligations, using the case study of China’s Great Firewall. Third, the lack of access to infrastructure as an obstacle to digital services trade is considered using the case study of the United States’ Restoring Internet Freedom Order. Finally, a briefer analysis of the GATS consistency is provided for bans on cross-border supply through electronic means, digital taxes and restrictions on intellectual property rights. For each of these barriers, the services at issue are classified, the different GATS obligations are applied and the potential justification grounds are considered.

This chapter discusses the classification of digital services using the GATS services classification system. The chapter first elaborates on how services are classified under the GATS and the role of the evolutionary approach, the customary rules of treaty interpretation, the existence of integrated services and the focus on outputs. The chapter subsequently distinguishes between three classification methodologies (the textual approach, the component-based approach and the teleological approach) and explains why the technological approach to services classification is preferable. The teleological approach is then applied to examples of both digital infrastructure services and digitally enabled services. The chapter elaborates on the distinction between transmission and content, the confusion on how to classify ‘new’ services and the misplaced focus on the service suppliers’ revenue source. This chapter thereby proposes a clear and consistent classification methodology that allows for straightforward classification of digital services.

Laws and regulations hindering data flows across borders are trade-restrictive, and some of these measures can violate WTO and PTAs' obligations. The chapter starts by exploring the multi-layered policy framework governing data flows and cross-border data flows identifying various policy goals typically associated with data restrictions.

This includes exploring the various elements required within the WTO framework to address the policy ramifications of data restrictive measures, focusing on General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The chapter then explains the trade-related aspects of data flow regulation by focusing on two interconnected topics: (i) the special nature of digital trade and trade in data that makes it harder to apply existing GATS provisions to digital services; and (ii) those aspects of data flows that are trade-related and, thus, should be addressed in a trade law framework. Finally, the chapter proposes a novel WTO framework on data flows by identifying the foundational principles for data regulation and the legal provisions necessary to enable security, predictability and certainty in data flows.

Artificial Intelligence is already powering trade today. It is crossing borders, learning, making decisions, and operating cyber-physical systems. It underlies many of the services that are offered today – from customer service chatbots to customer relations software to business processes. The chapter considers AI regulation from the perspective of international trade law. It argues that foreign AI should be regulated by governments – indeed that AI must be ‘locally responsible’. The chapter refutes arguments that trade law should not apply to AI and shows how the WTO agreements might apply to AI using two hypothetical cases . The analysis reveals how the WTO agreements leave room for governments to insist on locally responsible AI, while at the same time promoting international trade powered by AI.

This chapter methodically discusses the rules of the WTO framework and disciplines relevant to energy, including several outstanding issues treated in case law. It follows the current structure of WTO agreements on goods, services, intellectual property and plurilateral agreements. On this basis, it reveals the where the WTO agreements do not optimally correspond to the realities of the energy sector (eg the goods/services divide). The chapter also highlights outstanding issues in case law and provides a summary table of energy-related disputes to date.

This chapter deals with the enforcement of the international rules applying to the initial process of entry by analysing the possibilities and strategies of adjudication under the GATS and the dispute resolution systems of International Investment Agreements. The chapter initially evaluates whether investor-state arbitration (ISA) can be strategically used to enforce disputes when there is no investment yet. Then, it assesses the potential of state-state dispute settlement mechanisms for investment disputes. This is followed by an evaluation of the jurisdiction of the WTO DSB, especially when it comes to the enforcement of GATS provisions in mode 3. This panorama will set the ground to explain the recent innovative approaches taken by the current treaties and negotiations on the subject, illustrated by the services and establishment chapters of the EU-Canada FTA (CETA). Finally, the chapter tests to what extent the interaction in this area provides evidence of a gradual move towards a specific type of enforcement. The chapter concludes that state actors are progressively adopting convergent approaches in adjudication, at least with respect to the entry of investors in services.

his chapter argues that capacity for corporate sustainability is shaped by over-arching rules determining trade and investment relations, but also that companies play a part in constructing those rules and their application. In this way, transnational state and corporate conduct are symbiotic, mutually capable of shaping each other. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the General Agreement on Trade in Services within the framework of the World Trade Organisation mediate the terms of import and export of goods and services, affecting corporate management of supply chain arrangements, but corporate influence also affects those rule-making and rule-administering processes. We investigate the capacity for norms promulgated through free trade agreements to affect the parameters of sustainable corporate conduct. Finally, we analyse the powers of corporations as investors, bearing in mind the current fragmented regime operating under international investment law alongside scope for reform.

The chapter puts forward a theory on how to apply Art. V GATS to federal states. It advances the understanding that in federal states services trade should be liberalized on all levels of government.