ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how a systematic strategy of norm-creation through new generation mega trade and investment agreements could embed the current asymmetries for the indefinite future. It outlines the demands of the US digital industry that the Office of the United States Trade Representative has adopted in its ‘Digital2Dozen’ agenda, and subsequently in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The chapter provides some of the development concerns arising from these rules. It explores the potential for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members to be exposed to the proposed new global norms through agreements they are currently negotiating. The chapter focuses on the implications of these mega-agreements for ASEAN members who want to advance their national and regional development through digital industrialisation. Signatories included Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore, making it even more important for ASEAN to assess the implications of pursuing a TPP-based model of e-commerce rules in multiple fora.
