TDFs and Trade : The U.S.-Canada Free-Trade Agreement from a Transborder Data Flow Perspective.

This paper examines the potential impacts of the comprehensive free-trade agreement negotiated by the United States and Canada in 1987 on transborder data flow between the two countries. An introductory overview of transborder data flow (TDFs) is followed by a discussion of how TDFs have been dealt with by both the United States and Canada to date; a brief history of the most recent free-trade negotiations between the two countries; and an analysis of the foundations of the agreement on two levels that relate directly to TDFs--its possible impact on trade in services and its potential impact on foreign direct investment in Canada. The paper concludes with speculations about the long-term effects of free trade in the areas of trade in services and foreign direct investment as they pertain to TDFs.