美欧中RTAs数字贸易规则的测度研究

Research on the Measurement of RTAs Digital Trade Rules in the United States, the European Union and China

数字贸易规则测度作为数字贸易谈判的“指示牌”和数字贸易发展的“听诊器”,已获学界与政府的密切关注。文章将数字贸易内涵纳入贸易规则异质性框架内,首次引入争端解决机制,从更符合经济含义的角度,修正了约束深度的赋值,测算并比较分析了美欧中RTAs数字贸易规则的水平及发展特征。研究表明:美欧中数字贸易规则的广度与深度水平均呈增长态势,但不同经济体的整体水平以及增长幅度表现出较大差异。其中,美国最强,欧盟次之,中国在2020年前暂居第三,但2020年签订的RCEP反映了中国数字贸易规则的巨大变革,其广度与深度水平仅次于迄今为止代表全球数字贸易规则最高水平的USMCA;对比发现,美欧侧重贸易对象数字化,中国则更侧重贸易方式数字化。

As a role of “signpost” in digital trade negotiations and “stethoscope” in digital trade development, the measurement of digital trade rules has attracted increasing attention from academic communities and governments. In this paper, the trade rules generally are divided into two groups(DIGIT-M and DIGIIT-O) based on the connotation of digital trade, and then, for the first time, the dispute settlement mechanism is further introduced into the depth measurement. Furthermore, the assignment of constraint depth is modified from a more economical perspective and the level and development characteristics of RTAs digital trade rules in China, the United States and the European Union are calculated and compared. In conclusion, our studies indicated that the scope and depth of digital trade rules in the United States, the European Union and China are increasing while the overall level and growth rate among the three economies show large differences. More specifically, the United States is the highest, the European Union is the second, and China temporarily ranks third before 2020. However, the RCEP signed in 2020 reflects the tremendous changes in China’s digital trade rules, and its scope and depth are second only to the USMCA which represents the highest level of global digital trade rules so far. Besides, the United States and the European Union focus on the digitization of trading object while China focuses more on the digitization of trading method.