＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
As part of the “New Japan-U.S. Trade Negotiations” that began in April of this year with the aim of correcting the “U.S. trade imbalance with Japan,” “Japan-U.S. Digital Trade Negotiations” also began. The “Japan-U.S. Trade Agreement” and the “Japan-U.S. Digital Trade Agreement” were concluded on September 25th, at the same time. After being approved by the Japanese Diet on December 4th, the agreement will come into effect on January 1st, 2020.
The U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement aims to eliminate or reduce tariffs on certain agricultural and industrial products in order to expand bilateral trade between the United States and Japan, which accounts for approximately 30% of the world’s GDP, in a strong, stable, and mutually beneficial manner.
This time, I would like to think about the Japan-US Digital Trade Agreement.
1. What is digital trade?
“Digital trade” refers to “transactions of information and services across borders using the Internet.” Examples include the distribution of content such as music and video, electronic commerce, and the transfer of data.
Because digital trade is a new concept, international rules have not yet been established and in most cases there is no tax.
In this situation, the United States has huge “platform providers” (businesses that provide the infrastructure (platforms) such as services and systems that enable companies and individuals to conduct business such as sales and advertising and disseminate information to users of specific Internet sites) such as GAFA (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon), and so it wants to prioritize the interests of domestic companies and move in the direction of no tariffs.
Furthermore, there appears to be a desire to involve Japan in taking a major lead in international rule-making in order to check the rise of Chinese companies and thwart Europe’s aggressive efforts to regulate platforms.
2. What is the Japan-US Digital Trade Agreement?
In a nutshell, this agreement is an agreement to protect major American IT companies.
(1) Purpose
① Promote digital trade
② Strengthen economic ties between Japan and the United States
③ Become a model for the world in creating rules for digital trade
The United States seems to want to have this reflected in the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
(2) Main points
① Stop imposing tariffs on cross-border digital transactions
② Stop demanding disclosure of technical information
“Technical information” refers to things like “software code,” “algorithms,” and “cryptography.”
This is likely in light of the fact that in countries like digital protectionist China, where the government regulates and manages information, foreign companies in the US and other countries are being forced to disclose information. Japanese companies have also expressed concern about the leaking of trade secrets and called for the creation of rules. This can be seen as a stepping stone to future bilateral agreements with countries other than Japan-US, such as China.
③ Regarding interactive computer services such as SNS, measures that treat providers as the senders of information when determining liability for damages related to information distribution, etc., must not be adopted or maintained.
This is too abstract to understand, but it is an “exemption from liability for digital platforms.” A concrete example would be something like this:
If a restaurant employee posts a video of themselves playing a prank on social media such as Twitter, then social media such as Twitter (Facebook, Instagram, and other social media) will not be held responsible.
④ No discriminatory treatment of digital products from the other country
⑤ No restrictions on data transfer between Japan and the U.S.
⑥ No forcing companies in the other country to install servers, etc.
3. Advantages and disadvantages of the Japan-US Digital Trade Agreement
(1) Advantages
Consumers will be able to continue to receive internet services as they are now.
We use services such as Amazon on the internet, and many of these services are American companies. If tariffs were imposed on Amazon, there was a risk that things that were previously cheap would become more expensive.
(2) Disadvantages
American companies such as GAFA can earn huge profits in Japan without paying tariffs.