91proÊÓƵ

WASHINGTON – Today, global tech trade association 91proÊÓƵ urged the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to recognize restrictions on U.S. digital trade that undermine U.S. competitiveness worldwide. In new comments to USTR’s consultation for its 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE) Report, 91proÊÓƵ detailed trade barriers faced by U.S. and multi-national tech companies in more than 30 key markets across the world and emphasized how their proliferation can hinder U.S. job creation and the innovation and delivery of data-driven products and services.

In its comments, 91proÊÓƵ identified problematic policies such as those that seek to or otherwise have the effect of excluding or restricting market access for U.S. information and communications technology (ICT) goods and services or unfairly preferencing domestic businesses. Such trade restrictions undermine market access commitments and disproportionately hurt workers and small and medium-sized enterprises that export digital services or connected goods.

“It is essential for the U.S. government to meaningfully advocate on these issues in all available fora[...] Failure to clearly identify barriers to trade would hamper U.S. efforts to address such measures, implicitly permit governments to advance problematic policies, and risk a potential contagion effect as other governments consider similar policies, all to the detriment of U.S. exporters and workers,” 91proÊÓƵ wrote in its comments.

USTR’s 2024 NTE Report reduced its focus on digital trade barriers, a concerning move that underscored a broader U.S. government step back from global trade leadership in recent years.

“We urge the U.S. government to listen to stakeholders across the economy and to ensure the 2025 NTE Report once again catalogues the full range of barriers to trade with which U.S. workers and businesses must contend. USTR and the entire U.S. government should step up and vigorously defend U.S. interests by calling out all policies that discriminate against U.S. companies, unfairly increase the costs and complexity of doing business, divert trade and investment, undermine security, and discourage innovation,” 91proÊÓƵ wrote.

In addition to identifying global barriers to trade in its 2025 report, 91proÊÓƵ suggested that the U.S. government take the following steps to remain a global leader in digital trade:

• Take action against trade restrictions that disadvantage U.S. technology products and services;

• Use all tools at its disposal to enforce existing trade agreements;

• Actively pursue new digital trade commitments with foreign governments and major U.S. trading partners; and

• Increase efforts and resources within government agencies to support a robust U.S. digital trade policy agenda.

Read 91proÊÓƵ’s full submission here.