From NAFTA to Surveillance Capitalism: USMCA’s Digital Order

In this piece, author Burcu Kilic (CIGI) discusses how today’s neoliberal digital trade regime emerged from decisions made in the 1990s. NAFTA set the broader trade framework in 1994, and the US government’s 1997 e-commerce policy pushed minimal regulation and industry self-governance, shaping digital trade rules that later appeared in the USMCA. Yet while digital technologies now underpin the economy and daily life, they also bring serious concerns. Regulators, privacy advocates and labor groups increasingly push back against surveillance-based business models, even as trade agreements continue to entrench them.

Kilic highlights how technology policy sits at the center of renewed tariff debates following President Donald Trump’s return to office in 2025. Major tech firms have used this moment to portray tariffs as market-correcting tools. At the same time, the required USMCA review set for July 2026 is becoming a key opportunity for governments to rethink the agreement’s digital provisions and assess whether they still align with present economic and social priorities.

The paper traces the evolution of US digital trade policy from the Clinton-era embrace of self-regulation to the wide-reaching digital rules now in place. Kilic argues that these rules often conflict with industrial policy goals, social needs and democratic oversight. She warns that for North American trade to support shared prosperity, innovation and worker protections, digital trade must shift away from reinforcing surveillance capitalism and toward restoring accountability…

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