Trump Pushes for a US-Led Digital Economy That’s Free of Tariffs

Tucked into President Donald Trump’s trade deals formalizing higher tariffs on goods from Asia this week are provisions for a global economic frontier the US wants to stay free of protectionism: digital commerce.

In deals with Malaysia and Cambodia, and a more preliminary agreement with Thailand, the White House received assurances none will impose digital services taxes or discriminate against American providers of e-commerce, social media, streaming, cloud storage or other types of online services. Those activities count as digital trade when the transactions cross national borders.

While Trump wields tariffs to rebalance US deficits in merchandise ...