U.S.-Japan digital trade agreement should include encryption: American think tank

Sale Lilly and Scott W. Harold of the RAND Corporation, a US policy think tank, called on the US and Japan to include cryptocurrencies in their bilateral digital trade agreement.

In a review article Publish On Wednesday at the Nikkei Asian Index, RAND analysts raised arguments in support of their request for cryptocurrencies to be part of the digital trade agreement.

According to this article, the fact that both countries have the two largest cryptocurrency markets in the world makes it “somewhat surprising” that cryptocurrencies are excluded from trade agreements.

The 2019 U.S.-Japan Digital Trade Agreement does not include encryption or blockchain technology. However, the article pointed out that some parts of the agreement may cover the non-financial aspects of the new technology.

By excluding encryption and other blockchain-based financial applications, policy think tank analysts said that unnecessary tariffs may burden companies in the market.

Therefore, analysts have proposed two possible solutions-individually negotiate on cryptocurrency or redefine the terms of the 2019 document to cover virtual currency and blockchain technology.

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Analysts said that by taking any measure, this move can set a precedent for the explicit adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain in international trade, especially in the field of digital trade.According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis dataIn 2019, the digital economy in the United States grew to $2.1 trillion, accounting for almost 10% of the country’s GDP.

The role of cryptocurrency, digital currency and blockchain technology in international trade is becoming the focus of industry stakeholders. As early as March, the U.S. investment bank Citigroup stated that Bitcoin (Bitcoin) At The “turning point” of international trade.

Central bank digital currency (CBDC), especially the emergence of regional CBDC, is also part of the dialogue around virtual currencies in cross-border trade.