The Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity and The American Edge Project
The American Edge Project is a newly formed coalition dedicated to the proposition that American innovators are an essential part of U.S. economic health, national security and individual freedoms.
The Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity (TAPP) has long advocated for innovation in the American economy, especially by protecting intellectual property rights. TAPP has joined the American Edge Project in a coalition to maintain “America’s edge” through smart regulatory and policy strategies to preserve an open and accessible digital environment.
How American innovation has fostered a large and rapidly growing digital economy that has provided tangible benefits to the overall economy
The American Economy Is Going Digital
The digital economy is now larger than wholesale trade and retail, and just smaller than professional, scientific and technical services.
As a relatively new industry, growth in the digital economy is inherently connected to innovation. Protecting this industry’s ability to innovate must be a top priority in trade agreements in order for it to continue to grow at this pace.
How the success of American small businesses relies on digital products and services and is vital to the American economy as a whole
Small Businesses in the Digital Economy
How the American digital environment has fostered free speech while many other nations have done the opposite
Innovation Protects Americans’ First Amendment Rights
American innovators underpin an internet that is open, accessible, and welcoming of free expression. Not everyone around the world experiences those qualities. Many countries across the globe restrict access and content and violate user rights at their discretion. As the global community becomes more digital, it is critical to allow for the same freedoms online as Americans are afforded in-person.
References
1 “Digital Economy Accounted for 6.9 Percent of GDP in 2017 | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).” The BEA Wire, 4 Apr. 2019, https://www.bea.gov/news/blog/2019-04-04/digital-economy-accounted-69-percent-gdp-2017.
2 Barefoot, Kevin, et al. Defining and Measuring the Digital Economy. p. 25. https://www.bea.gov/system/files/papers/WP2018-4.pdf
3 John O’Mahony, and Sara Ma. “2017 Connected Small Businesses US.” Deloitte, p. 38. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/ Deloitte/us/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/us-tmt-connected-small-businesses-Dec2017.pdf
4 “Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.” SBE Council, 12 Sept. 2019. sbecouncil.org, https://sbecouncil.org/2019/09/12/small- business-and-the-digital-economy-online-advertising-fuels-startups-and-boosts-small-business-growth/.
5 Tan, Anjelica. “Technology Is Essential to Future of Small Businesses across America.” TheHill, 9 Nov. 2017. thehill.com, https:// thehill.com/opinion/technology/359616-technology-is-essential-to-future-of-small-businesses-across-america.
6 Shahbaz, Adrian, and Allie Funk. Freedom on the Net 2019. Freedom House, https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/ files/2019-11/11042019_Report_FH_FOTN_2019_final_Public_Download.pdf.
7 Trump, Donald J. “Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship.” The White House, 28 May 2020. www.whitehouse.gov, https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-preventing-online-censorship/