Widespread adoption of such provisions in trade deals would run against U.S. legislative proposals seeking to examine algorithms and software code behind artificial intelligence programs that can discriminate on the basis of gender, race and other factors, Wallach said.
In addition to potentially restricting congressional action, the trade deals would give tech companies ammunition to stop legislation and regulation emerging in other countries, including South Korea, Australia and the European Union, Wallach said.
Industry groups aren’t trying to restrict Congress’ ability to enact domestic laws, said Christine Bliss, president of the Coalition of Service Industries, which includes tech companies as well as media, telecom and financial services providers. The group backs the ongoing IPEF trade discussions.
Neither the USMCA nor the 2019 U.S.-Japan Digital Trade agreement includes provisions “that would limit the right of Congress to legislate in the privacy area, or other areas with security, or really, in the digital space,” Bliss said.
Earlier trade agreements and the IPEF also provide exceptions for investigations, inspections and examination of software source codes when such probes stem from law enforcement actions or judicial proceedings, Bliss said.
